Lung Collapse

Had my PM put in on Thursday. The surgeon nicked my lung and it collapsed. He used a vacumn tube for 24 hours to get the pressure out of my chest and let the lung re-inflate. Has anyone had this happen and if so, how long did it take for you chest/lungs to feel normal again? I can breathe but am feeling some tightness in my chest and am not sure if that is referred pain from the pacemaker or something to do with the lung.. Any feedback would be great as I am not sure what I should be feeling at this point. I see the surgeon for follow-up in three more days.

3 Comments

Pneumothorax

by lenora - 2009-11-21 03:11:09

You managed to come up with a Once In A Blue Moon complication from pacemaker surgery! Your surgeon should listen very carefully to your lungs with his stethoscope. You also need a chest xray to make sure there's no more air in the pleural space and that the trachea is midline where it should be. Did you have a chest tube? You're probably not breathing real deep right now and that might cause tightness in your chest. I hope you feel better very soon! Lenora

Pneumothorax

by dottodot - 2009-11-21 05:11:20

I, too, had a pneumothorax post pacemaker but was lucky as it was only 40% and so they decided to monitor me and didn't place a chest tube. It took about 4 weeks before my lung was completely expanded. If you're having tightness in your chest it could have to do with the collapsed lung so should present to the closest ER for a chest xray. Sometimes you can have complications after the chest tube especially since it sounds like yours wasn't in very long. dottodot

Deep breathing

by ElectricFrank - 2009-11-21 11:11:57

I've never had a collapsed lung so I'm only guessing. I would think that increasing the depth of breathing would enhance getting your lung activity back to normal and also tend to prevent adhesions. Just start gently and challenge the tightness a bit on each breath.

You could also ask your doctor if the tightness or any pain would indicate you shouldn't do this.

frank

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