A mi padre la tos no lo deja respirar.
Medical Spanish for healthcare providers: dialogue 35 (The cough does not let my father breathe.)
emphysema - enfisema
Hija: Doctor, mi papá estaba haciendo una caminata alrededor del jardín. De repente empezó a toser, y no podía respirar. Por eso lo traje.
(Doctor, my Dad was taking a walk around the garden. Suddenly he began to cough, and could not breathe. So I brought him here. [Literally, "For that I brought him."]) Note: "Haciendo" means "doing" or "making."
Doctor: ¿Es la primera vez que esto sucede? ¿Es asmático? ¿Tiene alguna enfermedad que esté siendo tratada?
(Is it the first time that this has happened? [Literally, "this happens?"] Is he asthmatic? Does he have some illness that is being treated?)
Paciente: Sí, soy hipertenso. Recibo tratamiento y dieta. Nunca antes me había sucedido algo así, aunque siempre he tenido tos.
(Yes, I am hypertensive. I am treated medically and through dietary counseling. [Literally, "I receive treatment and diet."] Nothing like this has ever happened to me, although I have always had a cough. [Literally, "Never before had happened to me something like this, although always I have had cough."]) Note: Observe that "había sucedido" is the pluperfect, aka: past perfect indicative, verb tense.
Hija: Pero últimamente, la tos se está haciendo casi constante.
(But lately, the cough is becoming almost constant.)
Doctor: ¿Usted fuma señor?
(Do you smoke sir?)
Paciente: Bueno, hace años fumaba hasta casi tres paquetes de cigarrillos al día, pero ahora no fumo más de cinco cigarrillos al día. ¿Usted cree que todo esto sea producto del hábito de fumar?
(Well, years ago I smoked up to almost three packs of cigarettes a day, but now I don't smoke more than five cigarettes a day. Do you believe that all of this is from smoking? [Literally, "all this be product of the habit of smoking?"])
Doctor: Por los síntomas que tiene, es muy probable que el fumar sea parte del problema. Le haremos rayos X de tórax y electrocardiograma.
(By the symptoms that you have, it is probable that smoking is part of the problem. We will do a thoracic x-ray and electrocardiogram.)
Hija: Hace mucho tiempo, el doctor le recomendó dejar de fumar definitivamente. Creo que debió haberlo dejado en aquel entonces.
(A long time ago, the doctor recommended that he give up smoking permanently. I believe that he should have stopped it at that time.) Note: Observe the different ways of translating "dejar."
Doctor: Los resultados de su radiografía indican que tiene enfisema pulmonar. El electrocardiograma muestra un pequeño crecimiento del corazón.
(The results of your radiograph [x-ray] indicate that you have pulmonary enphysema. The electrocardiogram [EKG] shows a slightly enlarged heart. [Literally, "small increase in size of the heart."])
Paciente: ¿Serán muchos días de tratamiento para mejorar los pulmones?
(Will it take many days of treatment for the lungs to improve?) Note: Observe that in Spanish, the plural form is used: Literally, "they will be many days..."
Doctor: El enfisema pulmonar no se cura pero se puede controlar, y recomiendo que deje definitivamente el ciagarrillo.
(Pulmonary emphysema does not cure itself [get better spontaneously], but it can be controlled, and I recommend that you give up smoking for good.)
Aviso: Esta página no es para proveer consejos médicos o información médica, sino sólo para ayudar a las personas a comunicarse en español. Si tiene algún problema de salud, consulte a su médico.
Notice: This page is not for providing medical advice or medical information, but only for helping people to communicate in Spanish. If you have a health problem, consult your doctor.