Peter's Pre-Op Posting

Well, as LilSis already explained, my lung collapsed the other day. Right now, I'm sitting in bed at Yale-New Haven Hospital, anxiously awaiting my surgery, which is scheduled for tomorrow. I'm gonna write what I can now, but please bear with me. Between the morphine and the Percocets, I am a bit fucked up, and it's also not that easy to lift my right arm to type.

Okay, here's what happened:

When I woke up this past Wednesday morning, I felt a strange stabbing sensation when I got out of bed. Since Laurie had not stabbed me, I figured it must be something else. I recognized that distinct sharp pain, the feeling of something moving around in my chest, and the slight burning sensation each time I breathed in.

Then, it hit me. My lung collapsed, again! (The first one happened to me back in 1996.) Knowing the hell I was in for, I didn't mention anything to anyone until Friday morning, but on Wednesday, I knew what had happened. This was my second lung collapse. It feels like someone is stabbing you in the middle of the back. I don't know why, but for some reason I figured it may just "go away" if I gave it time. Well, I gave it 3 days and it didn't go away. So, I had to fess up to Laurie. Especially since, if left untreated, a collapsed lung can cause death. (And if I died, Laurie would kill me.)

For those of you interested in the details, what happened to me is called a "spontaneous pneumothorax," which is basically a collapsed lung that occurs without a traumatic injury to the chest. An air or fluid-filled sac in the lung, called a "bleb," ruptures, leaving a hole through which air escapes. The lung, like a balloon with a hole in it, deflates. It happens most often in tall, thin men, so you shorter, heavier guys are safe.

So, Laurie drove me to the hospital and when we arrived, I mentioned "collapsed lung" and I was in the ER within moments. First, some x-rays to confirm my right lung had collapsed, and then, the ever-popular chest tube insertion. (Much less painful this time than in 1996, when they used no anesthesia, but still very uncomfortable.) Then, they brought me up to a room, plugged the other end of that chest tube into a water seal chest drain, and they ran a vacuum tube from the wall to the drain.

The purpose of this arrangement is to get the lung to re-expand to its normal size, which it has done after 3 days of staying put. However, the doctors want to prevent a recurrence, so they're going in!

To avoid boredom, I called Geoff and asked him to bring me a laptop, which he did. (Thanks, Geoff) Unfortunately, the modem was shot, so I asked my brother to bring me a modem, which he did. (Thanks, Dave) Then Geoff returned today with yet another modem.

Thanks for all your kind words in the discussion forum. I can't post here tomorrow night because I'm gonna be in ICU for the day. But I'll get word to Richie or LilSis so they can post the results of the operation. Keep your fingers crossed.