I have a history of lung problems,
beginning in 1995 when my right lung
suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax..After
trying to 'fix' it with a chest tube,
which was unsuccessful, I underwent a
thoracotomy. My right lung has had no
problems since the surgery.
Approximately 4 years later, my left lung
suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax (i
will refer to this condition hereafter as
'sp' ). After a chest xray, my lung
doctor said it was a small one, to return
in a week & he'd take another xray.
Luckily, the sp had resolved itself! All
was well for another 4 years or so, when I
felt that chest pain once again in my left
lung...Went back to the lung doctor, had a
chest xray, -- once again he had me wait
one week, have another xray & luckily
(again) it had healed itself. That was
2003, and all was well w/my lung disorder.
Approx. April 2006 (76 days ago) I got
that pain again, went back to the lung
doctor, (he had me wait a week, as in the
past) & when I returned a week later,
it had healed up pretty well, but not
completely...So, he advised me to not do
strenuous things, come back in another
week.... Finally in may, he said it
appeared to be healed, although I still
suffer chest pain, not as bad as it was
but there is still pain. My pcp had me
have a stress echocardiogram to make sure
it wasnt anything to do w/my heart. Those
results were 'negative', meaning my heart
was ok (i am thankful for that!!)..
However, it has been 76 days, the pain
persists. Its like a 'pinching' , and
sometimes a sharp pain that I prevents
taking a deep breath. I went back to my
pcp & suggested to him that perhaps I
had pleurisy...He is obviously incompetent
& told me "pleurisy is just another
name for chest pain, it is a description,
not a symptom"....I said "no, pleurisy is
an inflammation of the pleural area, lung
area", and he looked at me like "who's the
doctor here?" & once again said
"pleurisy is not a condition, it is just
another name for chest pain, any chest
pain, be it from a sp, an accident,
etc".... I totally disagree w/his
statement, but since he's the doctor, I
just sat there thinking "you are sooo
wrong", but didn't say anything out loud.
Now I know the word 'angina' is another
word for chest pain, but not pleurisy!
Anyways, he prescribed naproxen for
inflammation, telling me that I was having
'anxiety', along w/a pulled chest muscle!!
Unbelievable, I thought. I told him "i
didnt pull my chest muscle, I am telling
you it's my lung, I know its my lung.. I
have a chronic lung problem & I think
I have an infection...Be it pleurisy, or
costochondritis, I think I need to be put
on an antibiotic".... He gave me the
prescrip. For the naproxen & offered
me zoloft for my anxiety/depression, to
which I declined. Naturally I feel
depressed after 76 days, but I dont sure
need zoloft because this is a medical
problem, not a mental problem. I took
the naproxen for 30 days, and although it
may have helped slightly, the pain
persists. I called him (pcp) 3 days ago
& asked his 'nurse' to please refer me
to a pulmonologist (given my lung history,
I felt this was a reasonable
request).......Here it is 3 days later,
& still no return call. In the past
this pcp has always had a problem
returning my phone calls, & I always
have to call there, like, 3-4 times more
until he will finally return my call. So
another day passes with this pain,
obviously he's not too concerned, in fact
I think I am a "pain in the ***" patient
to him.. I need to have this resolved, I
really need to see a pulmonologist, but
without his referral, I am "stuck" ! I
called several pulmonologists yesterday,
but was told they do not accept "self
referrals", that I had to have a referral
from my pcp.... What can I do? He won't
call me back....Every minute, of every
hour, of every day (76 to be exact) has
been stifled by the never-ending chest
pain. I took a darvocet this morning,
only because it hurt a lot upon awakening
(i take ambien at night, otherwise I would
get absolutely no sleep because of the
pain)...I do not want to live my live on
pills,,, I want to get back to my life
(which was always very active) and I need
this chest pain to stop! What can I do?
I am at my pcp's 'mercy'..And he's
treating me like i'm just any other
patient that has a sore throat or
something minor! I think I have an
infection in my lung, costochondritis and
76 days is far too long to be in pain.
Time is wasting, before this turns into
something terribly serious, I need help!
I know lung infections are treated
w/antibiotics, so I have asked my
family/friends if they have any
errythmocian (spelling?) or penacillin
& I am going to take it if I can find
some. I have to be my own advocate &
research any & all explanations for my
chest pain because my doctor obviously
doesn't care. I need help very badly!
Does anyone have any suggestions, they
would be greatly appreciated.
