I feel like I only come over here and ask questions, instead of being useful to others, which I'm sorry for but I am new to this with my parent and don't really have much useful advice, only questions.
My question today is: NIV. PA said maybe my father could use it since he's been in the hospital a few times now. But everything I've read says that NIV is only for people who are CO2 retainers.
My dad might be a CO2 retainer, but no tests have been done to prove that he is. (He's on warfarin, which I guess makes taking ABG more complicated). Don't you have to be a proven CO2 retainer for NIV? Or is it just a treatment doctors throw at the wall and see if it sticks? (I feel like we've had too many of them) I don't want to do anything that's risky for him without actual proven reason for it, as he's elderly and has multiple co-morbidities.
Thanks, all.