Chest tubes-shmesh tubes

Pneumothorax: pneu·mo·tho·rax- noun: the presence of air or gas in the cavity between the lungs and the chest wall, causing collapse of the lung.

Now that we have the definition and are all on the same page, I am going to tell you my story with a reoccurring pneumothorax. It all started with a cold and a flight to Disney. Queue dream sequence…

My sisters, brother-in-law, and I planned a trip to Disney for my niece. I was still recovering from a severe cough when we were getting ready to fly. By the time we landed, I felt great. The very next day, I woke up with a little bit of pain in the left side of my chest and a little shortness of breath. I took my inhaler (I have allergy-induced asthma) and did a little stretching. No biggie I thought, the bed pillows have feathers and I am a bit stiff from sleeping in a strange bed. Onward to fun! But first….let’s close Andy’s door…

Andy’s door is really heavy when you are toy size

After walking a few miles in Epcot, the shortness of breath was starting to kick my butt.

Taking a break in Epcot (break from drinking)

Well, we spent a week full of fun in Disney and it was time to head home. I was still feeling off but no pain and my breathing was bearable. Very happy to head home…I missed my fellas.

When I arrived home, I was still a bit off and I promised that if I was not feeling better by Monday, then I would go to Urgent Care. I thought I had costochondritis and needed steroids for the inflammation in my chest wall ( I previously had costochondritis from CrossFit…felt like having a heart attack). Urgent Care sent me to the ER for an X-ray to rule out pulmonary embolism.

The ER did the standard tests and my lungs sounded good and everything looked great, so they “fast tracked” me to get the X-ray and get me home. Well, X-ray came back that I had a large pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and they needed to insert a chest tube immediately.

As I’m getting prepped for my “pigtail” (for the record-calling it a pigtail does not make it better), I was informed that this was a teaching hospital and that there will be spectators. Great…spectators seeing me naked. It was at this point when I realized that the doctor performing the thoracotomy (chest tube insertion) was an intern….and it was clear that he never performed this before. I was given a local anesthetic and was awake for the whole procedure. I honestly wish I was asleep. I will not go into detail all of the issues that I experienced, but it was a horrific event. I’m still a bit traumatized by it.

After 24 hours with a chest tube, and a bunch of x-rays later, I was able to go home and had to get a follow up x-ray in two weeks. Recovery was rough. Had a bit of pain and little shortness of breath, but that was expected. What was not expected was another cold….greeeeaaaat. That cold came with a severe cough. I was afraid that I would get another collapsed lung, so I called the specialist’s office many times to ensure everything was ok. They said not to worry even though it felt like bubbling in my chest every time I would bend at the waist. Two weeks was up and time for that follow up x-ray.

The specialist’s office called me 20 minutes after my x-ray (I was back at work by then) and told me that I need to get to the hospital immediately as they had an OR waiting for me….I apparently had a significantly collapsed lung. I didn’t believe them. I had no pain and did not really have shortness of breath (only when I would walk up stairs). When I arrived and got changed into my gown, they showed me my x-ray….yeah, it was pretty obvious. The doctors were baffled that I felt fine and was not in pain. I underwent a VATS procedure with mechanical pleurodesis. After 3 days in the hospital on vacuum suction, the pnemothroax shrank and I was ok to go home.

This recovery was a lot more difficult. I was home for a few weeks recovering with drugs, so I was mostly in and out of sleep and always in pain. I was pretty depressed and lonely and resorted to all of my favorite comfort foods….and packing on the pounds. There was significant pain in the ribs due to the insertion of the chest tube. Well, onward and upward…time to go back to work.

I dove back into work and was starting to feel normal again. Two weeks later, I was feeling good as I finished up my follow up x-ray. Went back to work…..guess what happened? You guessed it, another pneumothorax and another procedure needed…back to the hospital for chest tube #3.

Chest tube #3 was quite a doozy. I had to undergo a procedure where they surgically insert it under x-ray guidance….and again, I was awake the whole time. A few hours later, I had a chemical pleurodesis. This was easily the most painful experience of my life and the most traumatic. At this point, the hospital food was really getting to me. It was so bad that I kindly asked my family to bring me chips instead…

I kind of resigned to the fact that I have a 3rd chest tube and that this may not work. So, it’s time to stop feeling sorry for myself and start walking around the hospital before I got too weak. I received some visitors and my lovely sisters brought me a surprise…..

Chippies! Yes, I was on drugs but this is me being myself. After a few days of eating chips and watching movies, I was finally able to go home…for good? Hopefully. I was back at work the following week and had another follow-up x-ray, but this time it was a 5 days after I was released instead of 2 weeks. I was informed that I still had a pneumothorax but it was not large and they wanted to see if this one would clear up by itself. An x-ray a week later, showed that it was getting smaller and another 4 weeks after that…I was completely in the clear! YAY! Finally!

Although I was cleared of pneumothorax, I was still having a lot of post-op issues. My rib is now out of place and has caused some nerve damaged, but I was happy to be on the mend.

January 30th marks the 1 year anniversary of my first chest tube. After gaining 10 lbs, I have had some struggles with getting back to my healthy self. The pain was an issue and now it’s just trying to get back into developing good habits. After a few starts and stops of eating right and exercising, I realized that I do not need motivation. I need a purpose. So, I signed up for a half marathon to help me reach my goals. I also follow people on Instagram that I find inspirational that are continuing to battle through recovery after a major injury. My two favorites are Brook Ence and Christmas Abbott. Funny and dedicated kick ass ladies.