spontaneous pnuemo-thorax - Lung & Respiratory Disorders / COPD Message Board

mziquit01 · 10-10-2004, 09:50 PM

I had a spontaneous pneumo-thorax 2 months ago. Very painful experience. I was a smoker for 27 years and let me tell you i quit effective the day i went in the hospital. That scared me so bad, it cleared my mind of smoking totally...no withdrawls! Amazing to me yet as i write this. I was in the hospital 5 days with a chest tube. What i now have is this terrifing fear my lung will collapse again. I now have anxiety. I am afraid to do anything, to lift anything. I feel every twitch and i worry. The doctor did not say smoking caused it to happen. It seems this can happen to anyone. What i am having trouble with is...not enough information on this subject. I need someone if at all possible to talk to about this condtion..... thanks

lanena512 · 10-10-2004, 11:17 PM

IF YOU READ MY POST ON "HEY EVERYONE" , WELL MY BABY HAS PULMONARY EMPHYSEMA WHICH IS CAUSED BY SMOKING BUT IN HER CASE IT'S CAUSED BY THE VENTILATOR THAT HELPS HER BREATHE, eMPHYSEMA MEANS ABNORMAL ALVEOLI SAC WHICH ARE INSIDE YOUR LUNG , BUT THERE ARE SOME DIFFRENT KINDS OF SACS WHICH ARE ON THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR LUNGS AND THEY ARE CALLED BLEBS AND WHEN THEY "EXPLODE" THEY CAUSE PNEUMOTORAX , SPONTANOUS PNEUMO OR HEMOTHORAX WHICH IS BLOOD IN THE PLEURA "THE LUNG LINING " BUT IF U DON'T WANT NO MORE PNEUMOS THEN YOU COULD DO SOMETHING CALLED PLEURODOSIS (GLUE TO STICK THE LUNG IN THE CHEST CAVITY) AND THAT WORKS REALLY WELL A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THIS SITE HAS HAD THAT , MY BABY HAS THAT ON HER LEFT LUNG BECAUSE SHE HAS HAD A LOT OF PNEUMOS LIKE EVERY 5 MONTHS SO WITH THE PLEURODOSIS IT HASN'T GIVEN HER ANY PROBLEM NOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT DOIN HER OTHER LUNG TOO.

SARAH.

mziquit01 · 10-11-2004, 08:34 AM

Thanks for taking the time to give me info. To think this happens to a baby makes me feel bad to worry for myseslf. It sounds like if this happens once, its gonna happen again....am i right? Take care , you have my prayers..God Bless

quincy · 10-11-2004, 03:00 PM

Hi,

Yes, it's probable it will happen again.

I had 3 before I was hospitalised. The last one was 80% collapsed, I was tubed 3 times, then had a thoractomy. It did include the pleural abrasion (pleurodisis), plus the lung is basically stitched to the chest wall so that it won't collapse again.

Mine was caused by blebs on the (right side) chest wall. They were stitched as well and the only problems I've had was some air leakage into the area between....a tad painful but there's no way the lung can collapse. During the surgery...the doc noticed that the left lung had a few tiny blebs, but it never collapsed...so, I think I'm in the clear.

I had this all done in Sept 1975.

The only guarantee is to have the thoractomy. The pleurodesis isn't a guarantee either...there have been many cases where it has failed.

If your lung does collapse again...you'll have options available to you....more than just a tubing.

Contrary to your comment about info....there's TONS of info on spontaneous pheumothorax, thacoscopy, thoractomy, pleurodisis (chemical, manual)...etc.

Get really smart on the information in the event that it does happen again. Knowledge allows you to be proactive in your care.

Hopefully, others will be able to give you more input.

Your anxiety is understandable, especially since you've already gone through the dreaded tubing.

How old are you? I'm happy to hear you've quit smoking. What was the reason your doc gave you that your lung collapsed? Are you male or female? Which side collapsed? Are you tall and thin with a short body and long legs?

Do you have regular chest x-rays?

'nuff questions.....;-)

quincy

devonukman · 10-16-2004, 06:18 AM

Hi, I had two spontaneous pneumothoraxes a year apart with no treatment 38 years ago. The first one happened after breathing very heavily while pushing a broken down car and the other a year later for no reason at all. I have had no repeats since then and I haved smoked since before all that happened. I have had no lung problems at all since then.