A year ago September, I was having a cup of coffee and reading the Sunday paper. I really don’t know how it happened but I inhaled a sip of coffee into my lung. I fell off the couch, onto the floor choking and gasping for air. The pain in my upper left lung just under the collarbone was tremendous.
Michael was tapping my back to help the coughing. I was not able to inhale, was running out of air and he didn’t really realize what was happening. Within seconds, I was going to pass out. I looked up at him and whispered, “Oxygen.”
He ran to the garage where the oxygen tank lives, came back and asked, “How high should I turn it up?” I just stared and used my thumb pointed to the ceiling to indicate ALL THE WAY!
It took about twenty minutes for my breathing to return to normal. I asked him if he realized that I almost passed out and asked what he would have done. He answered that he hadn’t had a clue and probably would have panicked. We now have a plan in place if something like that happens again.
Just over a week later, I began to be very out of breath, totally exhausted and just felt sick. I contacted Dr. K. who told me to get to the hospital immediately for a CT scan. She thought that I might have a pulmonary embolism, which can be deadly.
I saw her in her office the next day. All looked the same on the CT scan. She listened to my lungs. One of the reasons that I was not diagnosed correctly is that my lungs sound normal. No crackling. She said for the first time right at the site where I had the pain from the coffee incident, there was crackling. It has continued to today. Permanent damage.
I had a nasty infection brewing. My PFT’s were horrible. Up went the prednisone levels along with a very strong antibiotic. It was a scary time. Eventually I recovered and everything returned to normal.
Thanksgiving was at my sister’s house last year. They live 100 miles away, have a large home and invited us to stay that night. We had a lovely dinner and I went to bed around 9:00 – late for me. What I didn’t take into consideration is that we had eaten several hours later than our usual 5:00 dinnertime. There was no time for the three hours between the time I had food and the time I went to bed. Due to the drugs, I had been battling acid reflux for a few years. I was on Protonix but still had some symptoms.
At 2:00 AM, I awaken choking and gasping for air again. The acid reflux had come up and into my lungs. I was coughing out white pieces of vomit tasting glop. I was in tears. I knew this time that I had to get some antibiotics immediately. We thought about sneaking out of the house and heading to my hospital. We waited until morning, drove my mom home, got home and called the lung clinic hot line. A resident returned my call.
I am so used to Dr. K. trusting me and believing what I say that I was a bit taken aback when the resident questioned how I knew I had aspirated. I told him that I needed antibiotics immediately. He said no and to just keep an eye on it. He also mentioned that he was going on rounds with Dr. K. later that afternoon. (I had planned to phone the clinic in the morning to ask for antibiotics.)
At 4:00 the phone rang. It was the resident who asked where to phone in a prescription for antibiotics. He also said Dr. K. wanted to see me ASAP.
She was not happy. “This is the second time in a short period that you have aspirated. You must have the surgery!” Surgery? What surgery?
She set up an appointment with the head gastoentologist surgeon for a Nissen Fundoplication on February 5, 2009.
Next: Nissen Fundoplication Part 2
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