That was a close call..... collapsed lung
Discussion
Fubar1977 said:
Muncher said:
Apparently it can spontaneously happen to young, tall, thin men 
Thanks!Now I`m paranoid!
BTW when I had mine always been non-smoker - but I guess as student maybe exposed to a bit in pubs etc. Just lean and pretty fit and 5' 10' used to run 10km 3-4 times a week.
Some relatively good news, the X-ray today showed that it has not got any worse, although it was a little unclear compared to the last one, so the consultant and surgeon agreed that I wouldn't need to be admitted at the moment.
They said that as it will improve at around 1% per day it will take around another 3 weeks to fully heal but that providing I feel up to it I can go back to work sooner than that as long as I take things easy. They suggested I rest for the moment as I still have quite a large collapse and I am struggling if I try to walk more than 100 yards but this should improve.
They've said that if it doesn't fully improve, or happens again they will need to consider surgery, which would be more invasive than last time. I've got an appointment for another X-ray in a couple of weeks.
They said that as it will improve at around 1% per day it will take around another 3 weeks to fully heal but that providing I feel up to it I can go back to work sooner than that as long as I take things easy. They suggested I rest for the moment as I still have quite a large collapse and I am struggling if I try to walk more than 100 yards but this should improve.
They've said that if it doesn't fully improve, or happens again they will need to consider surgery, which would be more invasive than last time. I've got an appointment for another X-ray in a couple of weeks.
Muncher said:
Just to continue this, (unfortunately!) the problem is back again 
On monday of last week I was at work and I started to get some pain down my side, I put it down to sitting awkwardly at my desk, but I went out for a walk over lunch, still in quite a lot of discomfort.
It gradually faded and but persisted for slightly over the next few days, the familiar bubbling sensation was back (not all that uncommon over as it gets colder in the autumn for some reason) but on wednesday to thursday I started getting shoulder and arm pain on the 20 minute walk back to Liverpool St.
So on friday morning I decided to get it checked out, walked into A&E and told the lady on the counter what the problem was, before I even had a chance to sit down I was called through, they checked my vitals and an alarm started going off so I was marched straight round the back for an ECG, which was fine and then a quick chest X-ray, within minutes of which I was in the resus unit :/
The xrays showed that my lung was collapsed by 25%, this time from the bottom, but because of the position the A&E medics were not happy to put a drain in, so I was admitted to a respiratory ward.
It was the same ward I had been admitted to the first time around and spent a week there, it was truly grim, seemed poorly staffed, cramped and in a bed room with 6 others who all looked like they were about to croak their last breath. Now in Ipswich, there is only one "visiting" thoracic consultant who only visits 1 day a week and spends the rest of his time in Norwich, along with my surgeon who carried my procedure back in 2004. I really did not want to be there...
So we had a discussion and I said that as I didn't actually feel that bad, could I go home for the weekend and see if some of the air re-absorbs on its own (it should do at a rate of around 1% per day). They said it probably wouldn't make enough of a difference but they were happy to let me go and see if it did improve.
So I'm now back home with an outpatients appointment tomorrow, where they could either put a drain in here, allow me to go to Norwich for it or possibly put a drain in and allow me to rest at home and treat me as an outpatient, which I understand is possible.
It's not what I really wanted given I started my training contract 3 weeks ago
Jesus! Really sorry to hear this Muncher. Hope it gets resolved soon. On monday of last week I was at work and I started to get some pain down my side, I put it down to sitting awkwardly at my desk, but I went out for a walk over lunch, still in quite a lot of discomfort.
It gradually faded and but persisted for slightly over the next few days, the familiar bubbling sensation was back (not all that uncommon over as it gets colder in the autumn for some reason) but on wednesday to thursday I started getting shoulder and arm pain on the 20 minute walk back to Liverpool St.
So on friday morning I decided to get it checked out, walked into A&E and told the lady on the counter what the problem was, before I even had a chance to sit down I was called through, they checked my vitals and an alarm started going off so I was marched straight round the back for an ECG, which was fine and then a quick chest X-ray, within minutes of which I was in the resus unit :/
The xrays showed that my lung was collapsed by 25%, this time from the bottom, but because of the position the A&E medics were not happy to put a drain in, so I was admitted to a respiratory ward.
It was the same ward I had been admitted to the first time around and spent a week there, it was truly grim, seemed poorly staffed, cramped and in a bed room with 6 others who all looked like they were about to croak their last breath. Now in Ipswich, there is only one "visiting" thoracic consultant who only visits 1 day a week and spends the rest of his time in Norwich, along with my surgeon who carried my procedure back in 2004. I really did not want to be there...
So we had a discussion and I said that as I didn't actually feel that bad, could I go home for the weekend and see if some of the air re-absorbs on its own (it should do at a rate of around 1% per day). They said it probably wouldn't make enough of a difference but they were happy to let me go and see if it did improve.
So I'm now back home with an outpatients appointment tomorrow, where they could either put a drain in here, allow me to go to Norwich for it or possibly put a drain in and allow me to rest at home and treat me as an outpatient, which I understand is possible.
It's not what I really wanted given I started my training contract 3 weeks ago
2003 seems a long time ago, reading my last post on this thread takes me back. I had 7 hours of surgery and spent another 3 months in hospital after posting that!
Fingers crossed for you mate.
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