What preventative exercise and medicines will make Mom fit?

Contact her Dr. and see if he can arrange for a PT to come to the house and teach her some exercises she can do on a daily basis. However, nothing the PT does will be able to reverse the arthritis, enlarged heart, diabetes, and obesity. And with those conditions I'm not sure your mom can be "fit". But PT can help her strength and balance.

In my opinion, Mucinex has the power to cure all the world's ills. I love it. It may improve your mom's coughing but check with her Dr. first before giving it to her.

To be fit in this age she will require medicines which she already been taking under the supervision of her doctor. But for exercise I would like to suggest you to assign professional living assistance who can guide her to become more healthy and fit. website: homecareassistance-toronto

Ask doctor to prescribe Pulmenary Therapy, same exercise area as Cardiac Therapy.
I am 76 years old with COPD, high blood pressure, bronchial asthma, sleep apnea on CPAP & oxygen at night, and I have benefited from approx. 12 sessions to date. I believe Medicare will pay for 28 to 36 visits per year.

Any physical exercise can help with conditioning, strength and balance. My dad also has chronic COPD, and any exercise he does helps him be able to get around better. If your mom is motivated to exercise, there are lots of chair exercises she can start with. You can get them on DVDs, including a series of "Sit and Be Fit." In time, if she is up to going out of the home, there are balance classes taught in many communities which can be done from a chair if unable to walk. Folks taking balance training classes lower their fall risk by as much as 1/2, and even if they do fall, their injury rate is lowered by over 60%. Getting an opportunity to socialize is an added bonus.

As one person mentioned, an appointment with a physical therapist is a good idea. Otherwise, how do you know you're not stressing her heart/lungs/whatever with the exercises you add. That way, the PT will figure out something safe for her. My mom is supposed to get more active to help her circulation but weak from other health issues. A PT appointment is the only way for me to get her more active without killing her, more than likely.

I meant to say that I have my mom scheduled for a PT appointment (next week, in fact) for exactly this reason. Actually, we're doing both PT and occupational therapy, where the OT will tell us how to structure things in the home (grab bars and etc...) that she'll need.

Get a new physician & this is coming from an R.N.
Also ask for the physician to write a RX for home health assessment & follow up.
Gods speed....

PT is great and underused; pulmonary rehab also very good.
However, you may want to first make sure she is getting optimal medical therapy for her COPD (is she on the right inhalers?) and enlarged heart (does she need diuretics?). A second opinion from an internist might help. I'm an internist & must say I'm not sure what these diabetic deposits in the lungs are...generally diabetes doesn't cause coughing.

Also, you don't say why she doesn't walk. If it's because of obesity and arthritis, you might consider pool exercises.

Good luck, she sounds medically very complicated and all her chronic illnesses are tough in older adults w obesity.

I should also have added that my mom's PT was a referral from her doctor and that they share medical information. So, in this scenario, she should be getting advice on things that wouldn't harm her.

While my other is twenty years older than yours, around 2005, I asked her to go to another internal medicine genre, i.e., geriatric medicine. It literally saved her life.

If you decide to do this, you need to find a board certified geriatrics practice that specializes only in treating those over 70. Some take patients as early as 65.

One other point you might consider is changing her diet along with incorporating exercises into daily tasks.

There is new compelling evidence available, which indicates people like your mom would benefit by cutting out most of their carbohydrates. That includes complex carbs, like from fruit, whole grains, and potatoes. I'm speaking as a vegetarian, who lived off complex carbs for decades. Now I have health issues, and have turned to a high-fat, high-fiber, low carb, and moderate (not high!) protein diet (ketogenic diet)--and I'm still a vegetarian. My husband, who eats meat, has the same issues as your mother and is also 71. Since he's been on the ketogenic diet, his BP and blood sugar have gone down, and he's loosing his "wheat belly." So for starters, I'd recommend she start the "keto" diet. You can find good material on YouTube about it -- start with Dr. Jeff Volek of Univ. of Connecticut. Once she feels better physically, the exercise will come easier.