My mom was diagnosed with MS in 1993. Back in 2006 she started her weekly regiment of giving herself shots of the medication Avonex. It has helped her tremendously, and as of her last MRI a year ago she doesn’t have any new lesions/flare ups on her brain or spine. My mom has also been a smoker for 40 years. Last week she was having really bad back pain and was having a hard time catching her breath. We all kind of assumed it was MS related symptoms. Until she wasn’t able to get up and walk. She also wasn’t making much sense when I would talk to her. Come to find out that was because she wasn’t getting enough oxygen to her brain. My dad took her to the ER, turns out she has a popped lung, and she revealed her symptoms started a month ago and got severe last week. They have diagnosed her with emphysema/COPD, put her on oxygen, and surgically inserted a tube to drain her lung. We’re waiting to hear more from the pulmonary specialist, but I’m so worried about her. She’s very thin (only 113 pounds, 5’6”, and she’s 56 years old), she takes her treatment for the MS VERY seriously, but I’m worried about how all of this is going to take a toll on her physically, mentally, and emotionally. Does anyone have a family member experiencing this? Or is anyone out there currently experiencing this? I would like some advice on how I can support her with this big change.