On the Spontaneous Pneumothorax
Tall and skinny guys just never have things go their way. I have been trying for years to get used to the idea that pants will just never cover my ankles. But the latest piece of info declaring that tall skinny guys will never rule the earth came to me last Thursday in the form of a collapsed lung. It seems that tall skinny guys are susceptible to that bane of humankind, the spontaneous pneumothorax.
In about an hour I went from sitting and reading a book (dangerous, man, dangerous) to an emergency room. My right lung had sprung a leak, and the air that was filling my chesty cavity was collapsing it. To solve the problem (!), they stuck a metal tube into my chest cavity and pressed it against my lung. For 24 hours they pulled out all the extra air from my chest and allowed my lung to reinflate. Then they had to make sure they did not cause any extra leaks. Four days, 150cc of morphine, and countless blood pressure checks later, they released me. A warning to all you tall, skinny guys: this hurt like the dickens! I have a wound that pierces half of my abdominal cavity!
On the bright side, I got to know the healthcare professionals at the lovely Princeton Medical Center. It is a teaching hospital, so all the residents and medical students flocked to my bedside every moring and evening to catch the next thrilling chapter of the saga. My thorax will be discussed for weeks, I am sure. If you ever want to visit PMC, be sure to take advantage of the valet parking next to the emergency entrance.
In about an hour I went from sitting and reading a book (dangerous, man, dangerous) to an emergency room. My right lung had sprung a leak, and the air that was filling my chesty cavity was collapsing it. To solve the problem (!), they stuck a metal tube into my chest cavity and pressed it against my lung. For 24 hours they pulled out all the extra air from my chest and allowed my lung to reinflate. Then they had to make sure they did not cause any extra leaks. Four days, 150cc of morphine, and countless blood pressure checks later, they released me. A warning to all you tall, skinny guys: this hurt like the dickens! I have a wound that pierces half of my abdominal cavity!
On the bright side, I got to know the healthcare professionals at the lovely Princeton Medical Center. It is a teaching hospital, so all the residents and medical students flocked to my bedside every moring and evening to catch the next thrilling chapter of the saga. My thorax will be discussed for weeks, I am sure. If you ever want to visit PMC, be sure to take advantage of the valet parking next to the emergency entrance.
posted by matt at 5:10 PM
1 Comments:
Yikes Matt. Sounds scary. Glad you're ok.
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