Talk about out of the blue

[Hendrik]

I thought I might share with you my Labour Day weekend and the past week.
I had a mysterious thing happen to me on the Friday of the Labour Day long weekend. I woke up with an extremely sore chest and could barely breath, now I found this odd, as I went to bed perfectly the previous night, with no sign of a cold and I've never had asthma. And seeing as I am young, how could something just happen so out of the ordinary, how could I wake up with something that I had no warning about, I've never had this happen to me. After laying in bed for a while, I decided that uni will have to wait and, stupidly, drove to my parents place which is an hour out of Brisbane. Got half way there, after nearly crashing twice, I pulled into Laidley and went to the doctors. I was prescribed a couple of puffers and some other meds and told to do an x-ray sometime. I managed to drive to my parents place, and stay the night there, still finding it hard to breath and with a sore chest.
The next morning I went to emergency and was diagnosed with a pneumophorax aka a collapsed lung. I had a tube put into the side of my chest, attached to this drain thing, to get all the air out of my chest so the lung could get back up.
To cut a long story short, I ended up getting surgery to repair the hole in my lung and had to spend a week in hospital with heaps of tubes going in and out of me, as well as lots of anesthetic to calm the pain down. And there was lots of pain!
This thing just happened, I didn't get punched in the chest or stabbed or shot. I was told it only happens to tall, skinny young males, and I fit the criteria perfectly. It's just amazing how something could happen to you so quickly, you're healthy one day, and then sick as a dog the next. Spending a week in hospital sorta made me realise who my real friends are, but also how fortunate I am to have good health and how thankful one can be once you feel better.

Thanks

Hendrik

[hiline]

I was told it only happens to tall, skinny young males, and I fit the criteria perfectly

lucky for me i've never fitted that criteria ;)

good news is your still hear to tell the story

[stikman]

:eek: **** :o Not good news buddy. Glad you are feeling better and it all turned out OK at the end of it.

Bit worried now :confused: they dont call me Stikman for nothing :( :angel:

See you on the next trip for a cold one ;)

[stevo68]

Hey mate....good to hear all well. My brother was a tall skinny fella when he was younger and had same thing happen to him. Luckily back then I was a short skinny bloke :) so no wuckers for me. Time for some full strength fattening beer for you mate :D,

Regards

Stevo

[Panda]

Must have been scarey! Good to hear you're okay now though. :)

I'm certainly glad I don't fit the criteria!

[Hendrik]

Thanks everyone.
Yeah it was scary, now hopefully it doesn't happen in the lung, 4 in 1 chance apparently :o. And Stevo, I think I will take your advice and get some fat on me, could be a good thing.

Cheers
Hendrik

[Redback]

Glad your OK mate, bloody scary stuff, as Stevo and Ray say, time to fatten up:beer::BigThumb:

Baz.

[x-box]

Holy cow, that's not good to hear mate, but really glad you're ok and all is well again!
Hope to see you out in the disco again in no time and as Stevo said - some beer and boerewors to fatten you up a bit??? :p
All the best for continuing recovery and hope there are no after-effects

[350RRC]

Hi Hendrik,

I had the same thing happen twice when I was 19 (50 now). First time was undiagnosed, so I went back to work the next day listening to my heart slapping around in space. Very painful.

Ended up having the 1/2 ringbarking, whole rib out surgery which left me in much better shape than some blokes that had keyhole surgery at the time, who have never worked since.

I was back surfing a month after and have had no real probs since. Rib grew back and I even gave up my 50 cigs a day habit 16 months ago (ha ha).

You'll be right, DL

[Hendrik]

Wow that sounds scary, lucky I was diagnosed straight away, that pain is unbearable. I had key hole surgery, and I'm back on my feet after four days, just need to take it easy.
And yes Louis, lots of Biltong, boerewors and pap en sous:D, oh and did i mention the Amstel???;)

Cheers
Hendrik

[Outlaw]

bloody hell, glad everythings sorted. Catch up soon for some much needed rest by the sounds of it. I'll be sure to be at X-box's place when he helps to fatten you up :angel:

[scarry]

Tis true Hendrik....no idea why that is, but we get quite a few tall, skinny young men with spontaneous pneumothorax's at work. Just seems to happen :(

Good to hear you are fixed and on the road to recovery :) Bit scarey I would imagine.

Does it happen to any particular age group?

They dont call me stick for nothing either:(

[350RRC]

Hi Scarry,

I was told that it is most common around 17 to 19, but I know of blokes in their 20's who've had it.

It only really, really, really, really, really hurts if one lung goes completely down IME. Changes your perception of pain, for life. Second time doesn't hurt as much.

HTH, DL

[Hendrik]

I can agree with that, the pain is horrible. I had to keep getting pethidine to calm it down, couldn't breath normally otherwise. I really don't want this happening to me again, I keep hearing cases where it does happen to people twice. If it happens in the right lung, it can push the heart out of position towards the middle of the chest, and I can only imagine how painful that could be.

Cheers
Hendrik

[Timj]

That really doesn't sound like fun at all. Glad to hear you are ok and getting over it.

[cucinadio]

bummer :(.................. hope your well soon mate

cheers

[350RRC]

I can agree with that, the pain is horrible. I had to keep getting pethidine to calm it down, couldn't breath normally otherwise. I really don't want this happening to me again, I keep hearing cases where it does happen to people twice. If it happens in the right lung, it can push the heart out of position towards the middle of the chest, and I can only imagine how painful that could be.

Cheers
Hendrik

Fear not Hendrik.

At least peth worked for you, it didn't for me.

The odds of the same (left) lung going down are remote. In my case (normal at the time) the surgeon removes the pleura (membrane lining the chest cavity) and inserts an abrasive which 'encourages' the lung to stick to the chest wall, so it can never deflate even after something like a knife injury.

You'll be fine, read my original post.

HTH, DL

[disco gazza]

Glad to hear your feeling better.........:)
Thankfully I'm just a shorthish lean & wiry guy,so didnt have that when I was a youngster(a looooooong timne ago);) :p

[Hendrik]

Fear not Hendrik.

At least peth worked for you, it didn't for me.

The odds of the same (left) lung going down are remote. In my case (normal at the time) the surgeon removes the pleura (membrane lining the chest cavity) and inserts an abrasive which 'encourages' the lung to stick to the chest wall, so it can never deflate even after something like a knife injury.

You'll be fine, read my original post.

HTH, DL

Yeah that's what the surgeon did for me, removed the lining like peeling a carpet, and the lung now sticks to the chest wall, like you say. Feels a bit funny and numb around that area still, but apparently that disappears after a while and should feel normal. I'm more worried about it happening with the other lung, this has really set me back, need to catch up on a lot of work now.
Just need to take it easy now I guess.
Cheers
Hendrik