Ever been in a situation where you feel like you are breathing through a congested straw? Air comes in small gasps rather than a blessed natural act.
There is a dull pain in the chest, and you would start to cough; hoping to cough out the unease in the chest so that you can breathe better but realise it does not help?
A pneumothorax attack occurs when there is an accumulation of air in the space between the lungs and the chest cavity, and this can result in a partial or complete collapse of a lung. The attack can be spontaneous; i.e. without any reason or it can be caused by an impact, like an accident.
I was diagnosed with spontaneous pneumothorax at 15.
I woke up the next morning after cross country run, breathless and a tightness in my chest. The first doctor that I went to said it was muscle pain. By lunch, dad decided to send me to the hospital. I was hospitalised for three months, came out for a couple of weeks, and went back to hospital for a couple more months. By the time, I was back in school, I had missed semester one completely.
In between the hospital stay, I had chest tubes inserted to help to evacuate the air so to allow the lung to re-inflate. I had a machine that was attached when the evacuation came to a standstill. Finally a chemical pleurodesis. The doctor's explanation in layman term: chemical, which was talc, was introduced through the chest tube, and to purposefully irritate the surface of the lung and the membrane surrounding the lung so that they can adhere together, hence a collapse is not likely to happen since the vaccumm is gone. But the doctor never alert me of the f&*#ing pain. Otherwise, my parents would never let me be alone when the chemical pleurodesis was carried out. But lucky me, my aunt came by so I was not totally alone :>
In between the hospital stay, I had chest tubes inserted to help to evacuate the air so to allow the lung to re-inflate. I had a machine that was attached when the evacuation came to a standstill. Finally a chemical pleurodesis. The doctor's explanation in layman term: chemical, which was talc, was introduced through the chest tube, and to purposefully irritate the surface of the lung and the membrane surrounding the lung so that they can adhere together, hence a collapse is not likely to happen since the vaccumm is gone. But the doctor never alert me of the f&*#ing pain. Otherwise, my parents would never let me be alone when the chemical pleurodesis was carried out. But lucky me, my aunt came by so I was not totally alone :>
My second attack happened when I was 17. I persuaded my dad to let me do the surgical pleurodesis. The chemical pleurodesis did not work, and I could not imagine a life of going in and out of the hospital for the rest of my life.
All was fine after the surgery. Until I was almost 30. I was told the lower portion of my right lung had collapsed during an employment health check. I was surprised, I felt no breathlessness. In fact, I had been jogging almost daily and had took up yoga for better breathing management. After a second opinion, the collapsed was confirmed. I could either leave it alone since it did not bother me. Or I could go through another surgery to try to re inflate that lower portion of the lung.
I decided to go with another surgery. And this time, I was lucky to find a good doctor - Dr Wu Dar Ching. Not that those previous doctors who treated me were not good, but being older, and being able to judge circumstances on my own, I wanted a doctor who could answer my queries and walk with me to ensure I have a full recovery.
It was slightly complicated this time round. Apparently, the collapse of the lower portion had happened a couple of times, and the scars had grown on top of one another. I had a machine attached to help with the re-inflation of the lung after the surgery, but once the machine was taken off, my lung collapsed. I was in the hospital for about two weeks or so, when Dr Wu decided to let me go home with the chest tube still attached to my lung.
It took about another one month to have the chest tube removed, and about a couple of years for my lung to fully inflate. I continued with my daily activities and jogging etc about two months after the chest tube was removed.
Just when I thought all was fine, my left lung collapsed. I was 32 at that time. I remembered I was standing at the traffic light, waiting for the light to turn green so that I could get out of the heat and into the air conditioned office, a sharp shot past my back and dulled into a throbbing pain that forced me to cough involuntarily. The breathlessness and pain was so familiar but I was hoping I was wrong. Light turned green, I went to the office, did some paperwork, and went out to meet two clients. I kept the discussions shorter than usual and went back home to rest. I went to bed early that night, wanting to sleep the whole episode away. Next morning came, and the breathlessness stayed. I went to a GP for a check - the usual checking of the lungs through the stethoscope. The GP said my lungs sounded fine; he didn't think I had an attack. Still I asked for a referral letter and made my way to the A&E department. I needed an x-ray to confirm he was right. A full collapse could be life threatening since I would not be able to breathe. I remembered I took a bus to the hospital, and as I walked up the slope to the A&E, I was literally breathless. I could only be this breathless if I had an attack.
The GP was wrong, I was right.
All was fine after the surgery. Until I was almost 30. I was told the lower portion of my right lung had collapsed during an employment health check. I was surprised, I felt no breathlessness. In fact, I had been jogging almost daily and had took up yoga for better breathing management. After a second opinion, the collapsed was confirmed. I could either leave it alone since it did not bother me. Or I could go through another surgery to try to re inflate that lower portion of the lung.
I decided to go with another surgery. And this time, I was lucky to find a good doctor - Dr Wu Dar Ching. Not that those previous doctors who treated me were not good, but being older, and being able to judge circumstances on my own, I wanted a doctor who could answer my queries and walk with me to ensure I have a full recovery.
It was slightly complicated this time round. Apparently, the collapse of the lower portion had happened a couple of times, and the scars had grown on top of one another. I had a machine attached to help with the re-inflation of the lung after the surgery, but once the machine was taken off, my lung collapsed. I was in the hospital for about two weeks or so, when Dr Wu decided to let me go home with the chest tube still attached to my lung.
It took about another one month to have the chest tube removed, and about a couple of years for my lung to fully inflate. I continued with my daily activities and jogging etc about two months after the chest tube was removed.
Just when I thought all was fine, my left lung collapsed. I was 32 at that time. I remembered I was standing at the traffic light, waiting for the light to turn green so that I could get out of the heat and into the air conditioned office, a sharp shot past my back and dulled into a throbbing pain that forced me to cough involuntarily. The breathlessness and pain was so familiar but I was hoping I was wrong. Light turned green, I went to the office, did some paperwork, and went out to meet two clients. I kept the discussions shorter than usual and went back home to rest. I went to bed early that night, wanting to sleep the whole episode away. Next morning came, and the breathlessness stayed. I went to a GP for a check - the usual checking of the lungs through the stethoscope. The GP said my lungs sounded fine; he didn't think I had an attack. Still I asked for a referral letter and made my way to the A&E department. I needed an x-ray to confirm he was right. A full collapse could be life threatening since I would not be able to breathe. I remembered I took a bus to the hospital, and as I walked up the slope to the A&E, I was literally breathless. I could only be this breathless if I had an attack.
The GP was wrong, I was right.
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