MY MOTHER IS A 81 YEAR OLD DIAGNOSED WITH COPD,

MY MOTHER IS A 81 YEAR OLD DIAGNOSED WITH COPD, EMPHAZEMA, AND CHF, SHE HAD DONE WILL UP TIL NOW, LAST YEAR WAS THE FIRST ATTACK WHERE SHE HAD GOTTEN BILAT PNEUMONIA AND HAD A STENT IN HOSP AND SHORT STENT IN NURSING HOME TO WEEN HER OFF OXYEGEN...SHE IS A EX SMOKER HAD NOT SMOKED FOR OVER 20 YEARS NOW, BUT DAMAGE HAD BEEN SEVERELY DONE. MY QUESTION IS NOW SHE IS FREQUENTLY ADMITTED IN HOSPITAL, COUPLE WEEKS AGO WITH THE FLU, AND UPON DISCHARGE TO HOME...DISCHARGED WITH OXYGEN...HER O2 SATS WITH EXERTION STAY LOW AND TAKES VERY LONG TIME TO INCREASE, AT REST...NOW SHE HAS BEEN READMITTED FOR HEART FAILURE AND COPD...MY QUESTION IS, HOW LONG USUALLY IS THE LIFE EXPENTANCY OF SOMEONE HER AGE, AND ONSET PROBLEMS THAT ARISED QUICKLY OUT OF THE BLUE TO THIS STAGE....SHE HAD DONE WELL UP TIL NOW ALL OF THE SUDDEN...WOULD THIS BE CONSIDERED END STAGE CHF AND COPD? THINK I MAY ALREADY REALIZE THE ANSWER, BUT JUST GRASPING AT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW. SHE IS STILL OF SOUND MIND, JUST SOB WITH EXERTION....HAS NOT SLEPT IN HER BED BUT IN HER RECLINER FOR PAST MONTH NOW....APPENTITE SEVERELY POOR AND DAILY ROUTINES ARE IMPOSSIBLE NOW. JUST A MONTH AGO SHE WAS ABLE TO FUNCTION WITHOUT O2, WITHOUT NEEDING TO REST...ETC. ARE WE LOOKING AT THE REST OF LIFE OF STRUGGLING NOT ONLY TO BREATH, BUT TO JUST WALK TO THE NEXT ROOM OR EVEN FIX HERSELF ANYTHING TO EAT WITHOUT GETTING OUT OF BREATH? THE CAME ON QUICKLY, THO I KNOW SHE HAS HAD THIS DIAGNOSES FOR SOME YEARS SO I KNOW IT HAD WORKED UP TO THIS POINT....SO I AM GUESSING IT IS AT END STAGE? SO THE LIFE EXPECTANCY WOULD BE WHAT....A YEAR, TWO OR FIVE? LESS THAN FIVE? WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT. SHE IS A TOUGH COOKIE, BUT NOW GETTING WEAKER....COMMON SENSE TELLS ME YET I AM GRASPING AT STRAWS FOR SOME KIND OF HOPE. THANK YOU FOR ANY ASSIST IN THIS YOU CAN GIVE ME.