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Oh my god... Typing this in bed on my phone so forgive me if it's unclear or doesn't make sense
Long story short, last year in may I had a spontaneous pneumothorax or lung collapse. Had a chest tube and did ct scan, couldn't find any more cysts or blebs so they cleared me. But then I flew to China, where I had another pneumothorax after a few weeks for seemingly no reason. We were afraid to do anything at a hospital so I just waited and I miraculously recovered and flew back, that was in July/August.
This week I got sick and I guess the coughing and sneezing made it recur again.... Lying in bed now, doesn't feel that bad but I'm so fucking scared, like what if I never get better or something.... Never would have thought I'd get something like this and what if it stays with me for the rest of my life...
I'm reading this link below and all the stories make me want to cry, people unable to find anything after a ton of surgeries and hospital visits and stuff omfg constant pain and nobody even believing them or anything
http://ehealthforum.com/health/topic20066_60.html
I have an appointment already but I don't even know whether they can help me in the long run, also I'm about to graduate high school in June and I can't just leave.....
If anyone has advice or help I'd really appreciate it a lot. Going to sleep now, I'm too scared even to cry
Fuck me 
  
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aeri the last thing i think you should be doing is reading those things on the internet
I doubt its going to make you feel better, and moreorless scare you, (plus who can trust tho things)
You always seem to scare yourself with these things, last time with those stories on ur uni
Best advice, go to a doctor its the best thing you can do. Tell him whats happening your history with it and let him tell you what u need to know, and how to recover (you dont have to wait till ur appointment if you're feeling comfortable, go as soon as possible)
p.s get well soon!! <3
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I had 2 spontaneous pneumothoraxes when I was 17, during my finals. It was horrible and excruciating. I hope yours didn't hurt like mine did.
I went for an op to staple up the holes and I'm fine (I think) to this day, I'm 22 this year. Don't worry my friend. It's a relatively minor problem and it can be rectified.
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Wait, so you think you have a pneumothorax again? Can't you pop down to your local ED and ask them to confirm, and put a chest drain in for you? Or do things not work that way in USA? If your shortness of breath is pretty bad, you shouldn't have to put up with it. At the very least, they will put you on oxygen therapy and monitor you. High flow oxygen therapy alone has been shown to increase the rate of pnemothorax reabsorption by 4 times.
We don't really know what causes spontaneous pneumothorices, they just sort of happen, most commonly in young males who are tall (or at least have tall chest cavities). It's probably some genetic thing we don't quite understand very well yet, to do with the size and shape of your thoracic cavity, and the surfactant between your visceral and parietal pleura.
The shortness of breath that you get with a normal pneumothorax is not life-threatening. Assuming you are young and have no concurrent lung disease, your other lung is sufficient to oxygenate your blood. If this keeps occurring, maybe it might be worthwhile to buy a finger pulse oximeter to measure your SpO2. If your SpO2 drops more than a few %, you should get yourself to an ED quickly so you can get supplemental oxygen. The other thing to look out for is a tension pneumothorax, that is a medical emergency. Generally, you get tension pneumothorices from trauma where there is a leaking one-way valve of air into your chest cavity, and a normal pneumothrax usually doesn't become a tension pneumothorax, but it is a possibility. Again, if you are in hospital and are having your HR and BP monitored, they can quickly treat you if you start tensioning (or if you have a chest drain going already, you can't tension).
If it keeps bothering you, they can do surgery where they use staples to join the two pleural layers, alternatively they can throw talc powder into your pleural cavity to fuse the two pleural layers together. This procedure is called pleurodesis, you should ask a doctor or surgeon about that and see if it is suitable for you.
edit: grammar error and forgot to finish a sentence.
edit2: also, don't rely on medical advice given over the internets. I am not liable yada yada, go talk to a real doctor.
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TLADT24920 Posts
Aerisky, sorry to hear about this Don't read those forums since everyone's conditions are different and just because someone else has it bad doesn't mean you will. Don't even think negatively about it, it'll only make you feel worse and make you think you will get it badly when there is a good chance that it'll never go that route at all. Just rest, rest and rest! Keep yourself occupied and just read up on stuff that you enjoy. Watch a movie, chat with friends, etc... and remove it from your mind. This might uplift your mood a bit: http://www.wimp.com/liveunbound/
From what I read about pneumothorax, resting and oxygen therapy are good for most people since you are breathing less in this condition but also, getting a tube inserted or having them remove the air in the area around the lungs will help you since it's the air that puts pressure on the lungs decreasing how much they expand and leading to your shortness of breath. Either way, the small ones can be resolved quite easily and yours doesn't sound that bad from what you mentioned. You're just thinking a lot about it and while that can't be helped, the fact that it's not that bad is a good thing. There isn't much you can do in terms of preventing it as long as you don't smoke or have any respiratory conditions(asthma for ex). Hope for your quick recovery. Aerisky fighting!
Edit: forgot that it's my 2000 post lol, oh well. Worth it if it helps!
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I believe I posted in your previous blog about this issue haha. Don't worry about it, those cases you have read about are in the minority. I had 3 collapses on my left side before doing the pleurodesis which FakeDouble mentioned, haven't had a problem with that side since. I ended up getting it on the right side too, because it collapsed twice (these were small collapses though). Haven't had a problem with that side either. But if you haven't already gotten it checked out at the emergency room/doctors, do so.
On a side note, do they still use talc FakeDouble? My doctors told me that they don't use talc powder anymore because it was found to be a carceinogenic. They used something else in mine, forgot what it's called though...
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God damn fucking lungs
Stop being god damn assholes
Damn pneumothorax
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On April 27 2013 17:41 FakeDouble wrote:
Wait, so you think you have a pneumothorax again? Can't you pop down to your local ED and ask them to confirm, and put a chest drain in for you? Or do things not work that way in USA? If your shortness of breath is pretty bad, you shouldn't have to put up with it. At the very least, they will put you on oxygen therapy and monitor you. High flow oxygen therapy alone has been shown to increase the rate of pnemothorax reabsorption by 4 times.
We don't really know what causes spontaneous pneumothorices, they just sort of happen, most commonly in young males who are tall (or at least have tall chest cavities). It's probably some genetic thing we don't quite understand very well yet, to do with the size and shape of your thoracic cavity, and the surfactant between your visceral and parietal pleura.
The shortness of breath that you get with a normal pneumothorax is not life-threatening. Assuming you are young and have no concurrent lung disease, your other lung is sufficient to oxygenate your blood. If this keeps occurring, maybe it might be worthwhile to buy a finger pulse oximeter to measure your SpO2. If your SpO2 drops more than a few %, you should get yourself to an ED quickly so you can get supplemental oxygen. The other thing to look out for is a tension pneumothorax, that is a medical emergency. Generally, you get tension pneumothorices from trauma where there is a leaking one-way valve of air into your chest cavity, and a normal pneumothrax usually doesn't become a tension pneumothorax, but it is a possibility. Again, if you are in hospital and are having your HR and BP monitored, they can quickly treat you if you start tensioning (or if you have a chest drain going already, you can't tension).
If it keeps bothering you, they can do surgery where they use staples to join the two pleural layers, alternatively they can throw talc powder into your pleural cavity to fuse the two pleural layers together. This procedure is called pleurodesis, you should ask a doctor or surgeon about that and see if it is suitable for you.
edit: grammar error and forgot to finish a sentence.
edit2: also, don't rely on medical advice given over the internets. I am not liable yada yada, go talk to a real doctor.
Well the thing you have to remember is that the U.S. still lives in the 18th century. If you aren't well-off, there are HUGE financial implications when deciding to go to a doctor, especially when it concerns doing any kind of surgery.
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damn dude, that sounds rough. like the other people said, dont mull over those stories you've read. they;re a minority, and you'll probably be fine. don't be afraid to go to the doctor and let them help you.
other than that, my best piece of advice is to stay positive. obviously easier said than done, and it takes a long time to gradually change your mindset from pessimistic to positive. i've gone through shit that has made me feel really depressed, like the world would just end and my life was completely ruined. one thing i did was try to remind myself of all the great things in life that i love. friends and family, stuff that i love doing, good food, and so on. think about the good times that you had, and tell yourself that you really are one lucky guy to have been able to experience those things. and love your life and yourself for having those opportunities.
another thing to do is to tell yourself that this is a challenge. depending on your beliefs, it may be something that was destined to be, something that god gave you for a purpose, or just something that is inevitable. for any of these reasons, it's a challenge that you have to face no matter what, and this is a good thing. because overcoming challenges is what makes you awesome. you're able to defeat these problems with a positive mindset, knowing that life is a struggle, and that you become more badass because of it. you're not the type to be given everything he ever wanted, to live a life with no problems. because then you'd be a fucking vegetable. take the pain and endure the suffering, because these are blessings that make you stronger, and pity the others who have easy lives.
hope that helps.
edit: @Stratos_speAr, let's not take this blog in that direction....
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nice haiku
@BassInSpace:
I think they still do use talc, not that I've seen a pleurodesis done. I was watching a chest drain being put in the other day, and the dude putting in the chest drain mentioned that they used talc. There is a 1990 RCT (JAMA. 1990 Nov 7;264(17):2224-30.) which uses tetracycline, so if they didn't use talc, I'd guess they used that?
I hadn't heard that talc was carcinogenic, so I looked into that. Seems like talc pre-1973 may have contained some asbestos particles, and so cancer was associated with that. Asbestos-free talc has been used since, and there is no evidence that talc pleurodesis causes cancer if it is asbestos-free.
1994 article from Chest (Chest 1994; 106:1215-22), let me know if there is anything more recent that refutes this
https://publications.chestnet.org/data/Journals/CHEST/21701/1215.pdf
Read the paragraph just before Conclusions if you wish
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies talc-based body powders as "possibly carcinogenic to humans" if you're female and if you use it on your external genitals. The study which this judgement is based on includes data from women who used talc from the pre-1973 era. It seems the IARC is leaving the 'possibly carcinogenic' there just to be safe.
Everything you wanted to know about talc: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/PDFs/93-talc.pdf
@OP, please seek medical help, recurrent pneumothorices aren't things you should have to put up with. Get well soon :D
@ieatkids5, that was very encouraging!
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On April 28 2013 02:00 ieatkids5 wrote:
damn dude, that sounds rough. like the other people said, dont mull over those stories you've read. they;re a minority, and you'll probably be fine. don't be afraid to go to the doctor and let them help you.
other than that, my best piece of advice is to stay positive. obviously easier said than done, and it takes a long time to gradually change your mindset from pessimistic to positive. i've gone through shit that has made me feel really depressed, like the world would just end and my life was completely ruined. one thing i did was try to remind myself of all the great things in life that i love. friends and family, stuff that i love doing, good food, and so on. think about the good times that you had, and tell yourself that you really are one lucky guy to have been able to experience those things. and love your life and yourself for having those opportunities.
another thing to do is to tell yourself that this is a challenge. depending on your beliefs, it may be something that was destined to be, something that god gave you for a purpose, or just something that is inevitable. for any of these reasons, it's a challenge that you have to face no matter what, and this is a good thing. because overcoming challenges is what makes you awesome. you're able to defeat these problems with a positive mindset, knowing that life is a struggle, and that you become more badass because of it. you're not the type to be given everything he ever wanted, to live a life with no problems. because then you'd be a fucking vegetable. take the pain and endure the suffering, because these are blessings that make you stronger, and pity the others who have easy lives.
hope that helps.
edit: @Stratos_speAr, let's not take this blog in that direction....
It's a 100% valid and relevant point. Because of the way healthcare is here, if you aren't well-off, you can't just say, "I'm going to go to the doc to get major surgery on a medical problem!" You have to weigh the financial implications of that decision first, and it is a fact than many, many people refuse to go to the hospital for treatment until absolutely necessary because of the financial burden of doing so.
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On April 28 2013 03:37 Stratos_speAr wrote:Show nested quote +On April 28 2013 02:00 ieatkids5 wrote:
damn dude, that sounds rough. like the other people said, dont mull over those stories you've read. they;re a minority, and you'll probably be fine. don't be afraid to go to the doctor and let them help you.
other than that, my best piece of advice is to stay positive. obviously easier said than done, and it takes a long time to gradually change your mindset from pessimistic to positive. i've gone through shit that has made me feel really depressed, like the world would just end and my life was completely ruined. one thing i did was try to remind myself of all the great things in life that i love. friends and family, stuff that i love doing, good food, and so on. think about the good times that you had, and tell yourself that you really are one lucky guy to have been able to experience those things. and love your life and yourself for having those opportunities.
another thing to do is to tell yourself that this is a challenge. depending on your beliefs, it may be something that was destined to be, something that god gave you for a purpose, or just something that is inevitable. for any of these reasons, it's a challenge that you have to face no matter what, and this is a good thing. because overcoming challenges is what makes you awesome. you're able to defeat these problems with a positive mindset, knowing that life is a struggle, and that you become more badass because of it. you're not the type to be given everything he ever wanted, to live a life with no problems. because then you'd be a fucking vegetable. take the pain and endure the suffering, because these are blessings that make you stronger, and pity the others who have easy lives.
hope that helps.
edit: @Stratos_speAr, let's not take this blog in that direction.... It's a 100% valid and relevant point. Because of the way healthcare is here, if you aren't well-off, you can't just say, "I'm going to go to the doc to get major surgery on a medical problem!" You have to weigh the financial implications of that decision first, and it is a fact than many, many people refuse to go to the hospital for treatment until absolutely necessary because of the financial burden of doing so.
i know, you're right, and it is. just didn't wanna see this blog turn into a shitfest (like any thread inevitably does when something really controversial is mentioned). but yes, it will be expensive.
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Thanks so much all <3333
I went to see my doctor and they took x-rays and saw that there wasn't actually a pneumo... I think the rest I had in the intervening days might have made it better. I still feel a little uncomfortable there but it's nothing serious apparently. I'll just make sure to rest up and pay them a visit if anything does come up again. Really hope I won't get a full-blown one again.
Thanks again >.< right now it seems like I can just rest, no surgery or anything needed (which I'm really afraid of tbh lol)
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If I rate this blog 5 stars, does that mean I'm in favor of your poor health? T_T
Get well soon, buddy
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Aerisky T_T
If you needa talk bout it shoot a pm. Gogo fighting !! Take some time off buddy
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TLADT24920 Posts
On April 28 2013 10:41 Aerisky wrote:
Thanks so much all <3333
I went to see my doctor and they took x-rays and saw that there wasn't actually a pneumo... I think the rest I had in the intervening days might have made it better. I still feel a little uncomfortable there but it's nothing serious apparently. I'll just make sure to rest up and pay them a visit if anything does come up again. Really hope I won't get a full-blown one again.
Thanks again >.< right now it seems like I can just rest, no surgery or anything needed (which I'm really afraid of tbh lol)
that's good news. I believe that surgery is reserved for the really severe cases so I wouldn't worry. Either way, you'll be asleep during those lol
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On April 28 2013 10:41 Aerisky wrote:
Thanks so much all <3333
I went to see my doctor and they took x-rays and saw that there wasn't actually a pneumo... I think the rest I had in the intervening days might have made it better. I still feel a little uncomfortable there but it's nothing serious apparently. I'll just make sure to rest up and pay them a visit if anything does come up again. Really hope I won't get a full-blown one again.
Thanks again >.< right now it seems like I can just rest, no surgery or anything needed (which I'm really afraid of tbh lol)
Happy it isn't pneumo, but a bit sad because it's so badass. I hope you will recover and all-kill Axiom-acer 
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EPT
