1. Community
  2. Chest and lungs
  3. Pneumothorax

5th partial pneumothorax in a span of 4 months

Posted , 2 users are following.

hudson07952
hudson07952

It all started in February, i was at school and started to feel a weird pain on my right side. I thought it was postural but by the time i got home i knew it needed medical attention fast. The next day i got checked, and it was around a 15% collapse of my right lung. They sent me home to heal and i went back for regular monitoring. No chest tube and i healed up. To make a long story short, since that incident in february (its now almost july) it has happened 4 more times to my left lung. Only the first one was on the right. Since all cases, they have sent me home without a chest tube because they were all very small. The first 3 on the left healed up quick(within 48 hours, and one even within 12) but this 5th one im currently going through has been around for 3 days now. And it hurts a lot. I am a 16 year old, 120lbs 5'8 male and this is taking away from my life. I cannot go a week without one at this point. I dont know what to do. I am waiting for a call about my vats bullectomy and pleurodesis date but i heard it still happens after that. I cannot go to my job, i couldnt go to school. I have not even been doing anything too strenuous these past couple times. (The first 2 on the left i was very strenuous at work before, lots of heavy lifting). I think i jump back into things too quickly. But this time im taking it serious, have the week off work and am in bed. It was only 6 days prior to this one since my last. Any nutritional tips or anything?? What do i do

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • hudson07952
    hudson07952

    Posted

    And i forgot to mention i had CAT scans and was told there was nothing seen to be wrong with my lungs, other than blebs. Other than that the specialist was very brief on what he'd seen. Im a non smoker. Otherwise very healthy and pretty athletic.
  • beth02617
    beth02617 hudson07952

    Posted

    I feel for you. My daughter had her first at 14 a year and a half ago. Last January she had 2 more 2 weeks apart. No chest tubes or other intervention. I am very surprised at how quickly you said you healed up. My daughter's ranged from 10-25% collapses, but she did not bounce back quickly. She wasn't able to go back to school for 2 weeks due to pain and complete exhaustion in January and once she did it was half days for another couple of weeks. She is also very athletic, but took 2 months off. Do you think you might be pushing yourself too hard?

    Her pulmonologist suggested waiting to do surgery until benefits outweigh risks. He said imagine your body continuing to grow but your lungs being glued to your chest wall. You might be at that point since you've had so many in a short time.  Don't be afraid to ask questions and do lots of research. We got different opinions from different doctors, but in the end we prefer a more conservative approach since it's not something you can undo.

    • hudson07952
      hudson07952 beth02617

      Posted

      This reply has changed everything for me.. The Dann furia website was extremely helpful and informative, i thought i was breaking the record for the most collapses lol! A whole new angle of things i've yet to see. Thanks so much. This whole thing seems so understudied and unexplained (hence "spontaneous").. The fact that you are doing the research for your daughter is very kind, i wish my parents would be the ones doing it..but unfortunately i have to research for myself. I feel for her, especially considering it is less common in females (though the recurrence rate is higher).. Keep me updated and let me know about ANYTHING else so informative! And yes my recovery time has never been over 6 days (pain-wise) but who knows if the hole was still there..Thank you so much!
    • beth02617
      beth02617 hudson07952

      Posted

      Glad it was helpful. Look up pneumothorax on face book. There is a group on there that is super helpful. Everyone knows what you are going through. If you ask a question, someone will reply almost immediately. One guy said he collapsed 10 times between 17-25 years old and he never collapsed again. He is 60 years old now. So it gives me reason to believe my daughter's doctor might be right.
    • hudson07952
      hudson07952 beth02617

      Posted

      Already requested to join the group! Thanks again. I wish the best for your daughter and as for everyone else going through this.. and that gives me a little more hope myself! Saw another one who's lungs went 6 times in high school and then never again because they began to treat him for athletic induced asthma.. Have you looked into that? Keep me updated..
  • beth02617
    beth02617 hudson07952

    Posted

    I mentioned this in another post and it got deleted, but you can find some good information if you look up Dann Furia. He also lists other sources.
Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.