Comments on: Spontaneous Pneumothorax

By: mug

mug — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:01:27 +0000

just a few words to let all the people who have experienced sp. thor. know that life might can and will get better. i have had 3 sp thor in the past 2 years and most recently it was decided i needed pluerectomy and bullectomy to prevent a life threatening collapse. my surgeon explained that i needed 40% of my right lung removed and due to a pre-existing condition the attempts to force the tube through my rib cage caused an extreme reaction and swelling which will now require even more surgery. i spent a few weeks cursing and complaining that life was unfair and why me but the longer i think about it the more i realise how lucky i am to be alive and count my blessings each and every day.if our sp thor had occured 20-30 years ago none of us would be here to give out so i guess what i just want to say is this "ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE" YOLO PEOPLE

By: John

John — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 01:28:48 +0000

Had mine in 2008 April. Still not better. Pain in chest and stomach, short of breath and a Doctor who treats me like crap and says I will be judged by him for being on pain medication. A moron with a license. Pharmacies treat and judge too. It is like I have done something wrong but have not. Suffering with chronic pain. Getting tired of facing it and drugs do not take all the pain away because I am under medicated. Nowhere to turn. Sad. I used to enjoy life. Now I exist in it at a very unenjoyable level.

By: Garrick

Garrick — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:19:02 +0000

Finally someone who has good information on this stuff.

By: Alexander Osorio

Alexander Osorio — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:36:08 +0000

I experienced mine in the 9th grade, girlfriend left me and all my friends jacked my stuff while i was rushed to the hospital. somehow my heart was involved and the put me on a mix of oxygen and helium for a week, everything hurt. it has happened twice since then but not as bad and it usually fixed itself. the first time is was only a 2 percent collapse but the heart complication is what made is so painful and dangerous. my arms went numb and it still hurts every few weeks from the scar tissue.

By: Hailey

Hailey — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:52:39 +0000

I experienced a right phneuÃÂmothÃÂoÃÂrax back in 2005. Spent 18 days in the hospital total. Went thru the pleurodesis procedure on the 9th day. Released with 2 small "blow holes" that served to allow trapped air to escape from inside the chest, outside the lung. Eventually graduated from open holes to allowing them to close and heal. Still in 2009, I have no feeling on my right side from my elbow up into the shoulder, back to the middle of my spine, down to almost my waist, and front to the middle of my sternum and also almost to my waist. The right side aches after exercising, and when it's cold/damp out. Stretching the right side is limited due to the lung not allowing the muscles between the ribs to move normally. Coughing is more difficult and I experience regular "sighing" in an unconscious effort to exhale more air because the lung does not deflate anymore. I was told this is as good as it gets. FYI, I'm not tall, slim, or a young male so the doctors were as surprised as I was when they realized my condition. Classified as reason unkown.

By: Devon

Devon — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:27:20 +0000

wow never heard of those procedures, but i have had three spontaneous pneumos and then they did a "left thoroscopic bleb resection" because it was the left lung, it wasn't too expensive, and i was only in the hospital for about three and a half days, and they say theres only a 3-5% chance of the left lung ever collapsing again, but odds are theres a 20% the other one will for some reason hmm... but if you just let it heal there is a significant increase in probability that it will just happen again. theres mild soreness and even a tingling sensation along your stomach and ribs from hypersensitive nerves lol, its kind of cool to think about but its definately a permanent fix, i hope, we'll just have to wait and see when i push myself physically.

By: Corey

Corey — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:59:30 +0000

I recently had two episodes (one in each lung a month apart) I really want to go to this party a week or so form now and I am worried I might have another one. I am a tall slender black male and I'm just a teen. I have never needed a tube but I might in the future. this ruined my entire summer for the most part. The doctors said I might have a MORFAN, a genetic disease passed through my family.

By: Nickie K.

Nickie K. — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:06:20 +0000

I have had over 48 collapses in 4 years on both lungs, and am a slim 29 year old female. I have been through a string of doctors, good and bad, and finally my last emergency room visit got me into a surgeon who did the talc pluerodesis. I had a hell of a time in the hospital and just got out. I am scared from reading these comments that it may have all been in vain anyway. And my lung may have adhered abnormally, because slouching is the only comfortable position that doesn’t take my breath away and cause discomfort. Forget burping, hiccups, sneezes and vomiting… I can’t tell which is worse (before or the after). I am sorta glad I am not alone, but I actually wish I was the only one, so none of you had to deal with this. I often think about dying, and appreciate every day I exist. I just wish it would stop, and wonder, why me at all. Email if you want: n.koerth@gmail.com- It would be nice to talk to someone personally who experiences this. Maybe a success story or two to help?? I have yet to find any and it’s pretty discouraging.
Thanks.

By: Cat

Cat — Sat, 09 May 2009 05:36:53 +0000

So sorry to hear of all the experiences. I got diagnosed a month after I started having back pain, cough and severe shortness of breath. Seems like having the surgery means long term pain, that sounds hard. I don't want to do the surgery and I hope my doctor will not press me to do so, although he is saying I should as it's not the first time I've had this. Right now although my pneumothorax is large, I show no symptoms except shortness of breath on exertion, so it's a wait and see approach. I can take that, although I must say when it's severe, it can be very frightening, feeling like you're suffocating and may die from lack of oxygen. But I haven't died yet from it, so I'm thinking it won't kill, I should chill.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:26:47 +0000

I had a spontaneous pneumothorax while driving to walmart, I didn't cough or sneeze or even breath heavy. By the time I got to the hospital my lung was 90% collapsed. They imediately put a chest tube in and told me I should be out in three days. Here I am 5 weeks, 4 tubes, and 3 surgeries later still in the hospital. They cut a peice of lung off, stapled it, removed scar tissue from the lung and chest wall, finally got the lung to stick to the chest wall, and I still show little sign of improvement. All of this is just a few days after my 18th birthday. I am athletic and they said I should heal pretty fast. So why am I still here? How long does this normally take?