COPD Newbie
Last summer my younger brother was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. Ten days later he was dead. He was 60 years old and had smoked for 42 years.
After his funeral I made an appointment with a pulmonologist to see if I had lung cancer. The doctor said I did not have cancer but I did have emphysema. I was 65 and like my brother had smoked for 42 years.
The doctor prescribed a nebulizer and Albuterol, which I used occasionally. My shortness of breath was bothersome but certainly not life-threatening. Twelve months later all that changed.
The summer of 2016 blew in like a hurricane. Events seemed to conspire to knock me off my game, to knock me down, and I'm still wondering three months later if I'm down for the count or what.
I don't consider myself a superstitious person, but I do notice things, such as the fact that all three events that seemed to conspire against me occurred on or around June 20th, the first day of summer, also known as the summer solstice or longest day of the year.
First there was the stuck brake pedal switch, which took a week and several hundred dollars to identify as the source of my car trouble. Then there was the broken driver's side door handle, which took another week and several hundred dollars to fix. Finally, there were the fleas. I improperly set off a can of Raid and got hit squarely in the face with the spray.
The stress of these three events combined with the South Texas heat made me sick. I started using the nebulizer every four hours. When I finally got to see the pulmonologist after a three-week wait, she sent me to the hospital for testing. A cat scan revealed a 4.6 cm aneurysm on my aorta. A thoracic surgeon informed me that open-heart surgery is inevitable with this condition.
I'm only three months into this new limited lifestyle. Showering and getting dressed are difficult now. Stairs take my breath away. I get those awful rib cramps a lot. I used to wake up with headaches, but the oxygen at night has helped with that. I still wake up every four hours with a tightness in my chest and an inability to yawn, so I get up, put Ipratropium and Albuterol in my nebulizer, and spend 20 minutes inhaling those, every four hours, night and day. I bought a second nebulizer and an adaptor for my car in the event of a power outage. I've started using the riding buggies at the grocery store.
I'd like to think this is one of those "flare-ups" I've read about. I'd like to think that I will get better at some point, but it doesn't feel like that's going to happen. I'm grateful, nonetheless, for the medical help I've received and for this website. The stories and information I get here are so helpful. Thank you, all who participate.
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