So......,my shortness of breath suddenly went from being a minor irritation to "I can't walk from the living room to the bathroom without having to sit and gasp for breath when I get there,and rest up to get the strength to walk back to the living room."
So I go to the local Hindu pulmo guy I have been seeing for a few years,and he takes an x-ray and tells me I probably have lung cancer and he needs to do a biopsy immediately. He then asks me what meds I am on,and immediately tells me I need to stop taking the Plavix "right now because I can't operate as long as you are taking it."
I tell him "I can't quit taking it because my heart doc told me I have to take it daily for at least a year after my recent heart surgery (stent) or I could die."
So he laughs,and says "Well,I guess I will see you in a year,then."
My response was "No,you won't. I will be seeing a doctor about this,but it won't be you." because I think a year is too long to wait,and there MUST be an alternative drug I can take. NOT really happy about his cavalier approach to lung cancer.
So I get an appointment through a local family doc to see another pulmonary surgeon,and this guy is all business,despite his dyed hair and hipster "man bun". He comes in the room,sits down,asks me what has been going on,and tells me "I am going to schedule you for a CAT scan tomorrow morning (last Thursday) at the hospital . Let's see for sure what it is we are dealing with before we do anything else,and then come back on Monday so we can go over the results and make plans.",smiles,shakes my hand,and walks out of the room after telling me "See the woman at the front counter and she will give you all the paperwork.
I go have the CAT scan on Friday,and on Monday go back to see him again,and he walks into the room and announces,"Your lungs are full of water and you are drowning. See the woman at the counter for the paperwork to admit you to the hospital tomorrow morning so I can drain your lungs",smiles at me,and says "See you tomorrow!"
By this point,I am loving the HELL out of my new doc. This guy doesn't screw around,and he doesn't schedule your appointments for 2 weeks or 2 months into the future."
I go to the hospital the next morning,and by now I am so weak from lack of oxygen I can't walk in from the nearest handicapped parking space. I get part way,go to my knees,and ask someone passing to have them send a wheelchair out for me. They roll me in to the registration desk and then roll me to the room where the surgery is to take place,and then the doc shows up.
He uses a scalpel to cut a hold in my back,and then sticks a needle connected to a rubber hose into my right lung. The hose is connected to a 1 liter bottle I had already seen and laughed about while asking him "You don't really think you need a jar that big do you?",and he tells me "Sometimes we fill one up." I kinda thought he was screwing with me on that one because where is the room for air if you have that much water in your lungs?
Damned if he didn't drain 1 and 3/4 liters of water out of just my right lung. No kidding. Looked like beer or urine. Look at a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi for reference to how much fluid I had in my right lung. It still seems impossible to me,but I saw the jars.
He finishes up and tells me he is going to send it off for analysis and will see me next Wednesday to discuss what he finds out and to make future plans. For all I know I might actually have lung cancer,but I would love to know how the Hindu doc could see a spot on my lungs when they were covered with water,and not see the freaking water.
I do know that I am going to try to talk him into draining the left lung,too.
VERY little pain involved. Maybe a bee sting. The most discomfort came after a lot of the water had drained out,and suddenly there is a vacuum in my lung and I am not breathing deeply enough to fill it. When I do breathe that deeply,it makes me want to cough.
BUT.......,after sitting around for 15-20 minutes,damned if I didn't get up out of the wheel chair and walk to another room to give blood,and then walk to my truck in the parking lot!
I also slept like a clubbed baby seal when I got home. Hadn't been sleeping worth a damn because of the pressure on my heart when I laid down.
I am once again panting for breath and and exhausted,and it worries me some. I am hoping it comes from me being so far down it will take me a few days to recover enough to get my endurance back. Or at least some of it.
Besides the hack Hindu doc screwing me around and wasting my time and money,the freaking VA has been giving me inhalers for the last couple of years despite me telling them the inhalers don't work worth a damn.
It really boils down to being lucky enough to find the right doctor,doesn't it?
