pneumothorax

Hi,

I know exactly what you're talking about, the surgeon nicked my lung also. I spent 4 days in the hospital and was discharged. Unfortunately they didn't catch all the nicks. I didn't feel good at home but thought it war par for the course. About 2 hrs after I got home I coughed, the CRT-D zapped me 2 times, the bowl I was holding flew across the room and hit the refrigerator , I didn't have a clue what was happening but I was sure it wasn't good. I woke my husband and called 911. By the time they arrived, I didn't really have a grasp on anything. I remember laying in the ambulance with 2 guys working on me and being zapped again by the CRT-D. I was told if it hadn't been implanted 4 days before I'd never have made it to the hospital. That's about as much as I remember for the next 14 days. I got something weird called subcutaneous crepitation where air goes under your skin, you puff up like a blimp (my friends told me I had no neck) and I apparently turned blue to top it all off. I guess every Dr. in town had to come see the Balloon Lady. It sounds kind of funny now but I almost didn't make it thru all the excitement. Dr. said I had a "very large" pneumothorax with complications. Now he really doesn't want to touch me again for any reason at least for a year or two. I guess he thinks I don't have good Karma and I have to agree with him. I am in my 9th mo. with my CRT-D device, I'm alive, I'm not 100%, I think the settings should be adjusted to help decrease SOB so I'm contacting Medtronic this week to see if they can help. So, yes, it does happen and I guess it's not unusual as a side effect. I'm glad your're doing well now. I still think I will also one of these days.
Very good talking with you.

gretchen

7 Comments

:)

by annaelliott76 - 2009-12-07 09:12:57

Glad I'm not the only one. At least I was still in recovery when it happened. My ribs are still killing me right now. Hope things get better soon.

Anna

Chest Tube

by annaelliott76 - 2009-12-07 10:12:35

Maybe you can help me with this. I had a chest tube on my left side. Did you have one? How long does it take to heal up? The pain from the sight is what is giving me fits. Like having a broken rib. PM sight feels fine.

Thanks,

Anna

Chest Tibe

by riodog - 2009-12-07 11:12:14

Hi Anna,

Yes, I had a chest tube on my left side also, a rather large one. Removing it was the last thing they did before they finally let me come home. I guess I was lucky, not much pain from it, and I would consider it healed in 3-4 weeks. Funny thing, I still get an itchy sensation at the scar area even today and sometimes a twinge or two. It did heal nicely for such an ugly scar, like a great big X. I hope yours feels better soon.

gretchen

chest tube

by riodog - 2009-12-07 11:12:15

Hi Anna, it's me again. I should tell you that I'm not very sure about lots of things that happened to me as I was so strung out on drugs. Most of the time I just was put under so maybe I wouldn't hurt myself, I don't know. So what I did say is what the Dr. told me later. Hmmmm?

gretchen

strung out

by annaelliott76 - 2009-12-07 11:12:40

I understand what you mean about being strung out. I lost a couple days somewhere for sure. I remember things in fragments. Funny thing is, I fully remember the chest tube being put in... it HURT! I could tell the surgeon everything that was said in the room. He was shocked. I actually called my brother and told him to get there because something was wrong. I just miss bits and pieces before and after. The scab just fell off the incision and it looks good. Had a chest xray last week and everything looked fine. I'm 3 weeks into healing and I think the cold weather is aggravating the pain. It definitely wasn't hurting this bad until it got cold and snowed. I remember being in extreme pain in the hospital with ice packs on my back and morphine every 2 hrs., then being switched to something stronger on a pump. After that I had them switch me to Lortabs so I had some control over pain meds. I didn't want to come out the hospital going through withdrawal LOL

strung out

by riodog - 2009-12-08 10:12:31

I had some of the weirdest things happen to me. Maybe they were dreams, hallucinations, freak outs?????????? One I still remember vividly is that I was sure they had loaded me into an airplane piloted by a lovely brunette woman. There was another woman on a guerney beside me who coughed all the time. We flew to Chicago where the pilot was honored for flying patients all over the country for treatment. It was raining and I could see the water on the windows. I still remember the colors in the plane cabin. Of course, it never happened but I thought it did and told everyone about it. My son told me the hospital called him at 1 a.m. one night and asked him to talk me down from accusing them of trying to murder me. I don't remember that either. Like you, I lost 12-14 days of my life and while it bothered me enormously at first, I now think it's a good thing I don't remember, or I could never face having to go back to that hospital!!!!

gretchen

hahaha!

by annaelliott76 - 2009-12-10 01:12:39

Everyday I was in the hospital I never moved, but the room seemed completely different everyday. The funny thing with my memories is that my brother confirmed, the things I do remember did happen. The room just never changed. There's a day or two I'm completely missing. I'll never get that back. Probably best I don't. The dummies left me armmed with a cell phone. Somehow, I figured out how to text, email and call EVERYONE coherently. I panicked during the night a few times, escpecially if I had some 20 yr. old, inexperienced nurse assigned to me, but had figured that one out... My brother in law worked nights in ICU and could handle anything better than those floor nurses. I would call him on my trusty cell phone and he would come talk me down or take care of whatever was needed. We had lots of conversations I'm just remembering LOL. I needed dressings changed one night and had to call him to do it because the nurse on duty "did not know how to change dressings on a chest tube". Scary!

I wish I didn't remember things to a point. I find lately, as I remember things, I get very upset or panic again. It's really a trauma. I think that's why I've become so overly cautious about everything. I don't want to do it again! Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Anna

You know you're wired when...

You’re officially battery-operated.

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