Spontaneous Pneumothorax

ninebeanrows

Anyone had one of these before?

Had one the other day, lung was 100% collapsed when i got xrayed, got aspirated and the had the drain put in, was in Hospital for 5 days.

My main thing is total complete paraonia of any slight tinge of discomfort anywhere near the ribs or a slight little cold i have.

Basically i think i am always going to be scared of this happening again.

The chances are it will happen again with there being a 50% + chance of it happening again and if it does then you have to get a horrible lung surgery that is meant to be very painful.

I will soldier on..:D;)

bnt

A friend of mine had one around 1990 - possibly not entirely spontaneous, since his work environment (steel factory) may have had something to do with it. I saw him in hospital with thick tubes sticking out his ribcage - ugly. :eek:

ninebeanrows

bnt wrote: »

A friend of mine had one around 1990 - possibly not entirely spontaneous, since his work environment (steel factory) may have had something to do with it. I saw him in hospital with thick tubes sticking out his ribcage - ugly. :eek:

Yep is reasonably painful but alot less painful than the collapsed lung itself!

I got away with just taking ibprofen and paracetemol although sleeping was not very possible!

LionelNashe

I had one when I was about 18 years old, in 1994. I wouldn't be surprised if treatments have changed since then. 40% of the left lung was collapsed. The GP pretty much knew what it was straight away and sent me down to the hospital. Apparently tall thin young men are more susceptible.

I was in for 2 weeks, with a chest drain and a 'Gumco'(?) machine. I think they told me there was a 30% to 40% chance of it happening again in my case. I was a bit paranoid for the next few days but there was never any re-occurrence.

The doctor who inserted the drain was being supervised by another doctor. I think it was her first time. As she was forcing the tube in, my ribcage felt like it was being twisted around inside my chest - most painful thing ever. The collapsed lung itself wasn't that painful, just like a medium-force punch in the chest.

mickus40

Just back from hospital after having this on my left lung. Had to get the tube inserted overnight. Indeed not a pleasant procedure to get done... They did a needle drain first which didnt work, then they inserted the tube. I'll have some more morphine please'! So Im home now 3 days after the operation. I beleive theres a 30% chance of it happening again. Eek, heres hoping me ould lung stays inflated. How long did you guys take off work after having it done?

LionelNashe

mickus40 wrote: »

Just back from hospital after having this on my left lung. Had to get the tube inserted overnight. Indeed not a pleasant procedure to get done... They did a needle drain first which didnt work, then they inserted the tube. I'll have some more morphine please'! So Im home now 3 days after the operation. I beleive theres a 30% chance of it happening again. Eek, heres hoping me ould lung stays inflated. How long did you guys take off work after having it done?

Its great when your body pulls those little surprises, isn't it?:) Bet you're glad that's over. I was a student at the time. I got out on a Wednesday, and I would say that I was back in college the following Monday. I quit my part-time supermarket job because they advised no heavy lifting for 3 months. Do you work at anything that needs physical activity?

Witcher

I can sympathise OP, I had a lobectomy 6 months ago, in hospital for 7 weeks and had a total of 5 drains in various places due to recurrant pneumothorax, eventually had 2 bouts of pleuradesis, one put me in horrible pain the other made me sick for 4 days good times:P

mickus40

Absolutely glad its over, heres hoping no repeats! My job does actually entail heavy lifting, eek. They said 2 weeks off. Hope thats enough.. Jeeze Blay hope your doing better, that sounds like some ordeal. Its only when you experience some sort of fall with your health that you realise its the most important thing in life. Thanks for the replies guys
Mick

Macha

Happened to my boyfriend as well a few years ago. I'd say its more common than you think.

He's had nothing happen since and has been running marathons/triathlons - the lot.

vinylqueen

happened to my boyfriend last year! 70% collapse in left lung. he thought he'd just pulled a muscle and it'd fix with a day on the couch. i thought otherwise and pestered him incessantly until he went into hospital :P

completely can see why you'd be a lil' worried about the possibility of a recurrence but in all honesty as long as you're vigilant to the symptoms and don't go mad (scuba diving, skydiving, flights in the first few months during recovery etc) you've a really good chance there'll be no further problems. the few times i have heard of someone suffering repeated collapses they've either been very unlucky or chosen to ignore the medical advice. definitely see if work can give you some sort of mechanical assistance if you do have to do a lot of lifting, if they're being prudent they should accommodate your diminished abilities for the next while. sorry to hear it happened tho, it's a nasty thing to go through!