Brian, I just found this website today. I am 24 years old and my lung has collapsed 2 times. The first time I was running and it just took me down. The second time I coughed at work and out went my air. I hope you have thought about the surgery. I decided in february when my lung collapsed the 2nd time to have the surgery. It hurts bad, but it is worth it. I have not had any problems since and I feel great. I don't know if your son might have a cyst on his lung, but that is what I had on mine. When they did the surgery they cut my cyst off and then kind of scrapped my lung to rough it up so it would heal to my chest cavity. When I woke up from surgery I was in discomfort, and had two large chest tubes coming out my side to drain any fluids. But my dr gave me an epidoral to help with the pain. Also when the chest tubes are removed they do not hurt at all, it's just a little uncomfortable. The worst thing I think about the surgery was I had a nerve cut and that has left me numb in a little area, but my dr says that will heal on it's own. Please feel free to contact me if you would like more of my story. I hope this response reaches you in good time!

Hi its been a year since my lung collapsed, I went through surgery and it was treated but recently since april I sumtyms get difficulty in breathing? Sumtimes currently its happening again? Do you know if it is in connection with my lung collapsing? Has it been said they will be side effects because I was not told.

I'm not sure. I wasn't made aware of any side effects after surgery. Have you spoke with your doctor? I know from experience that I get unconfortable sleeping on the side that I had the surgery on. It's a weird discornfort from my lung being stuck to my chest cavity. But so far that is the only problem I have had other than my nerver being cut during surgery.

If you find anything out please let me know!

Hi...I had more than 30 collapses over both lungs from age 14 to 19, when I had the "new" surgery of the day (june 1980)....

Today I am 44...Even with more than 50 titaneum staples in both lungs...I am in daily pain...And the frustration is that because the staples are preventing the lungs from collapsing the way they did 20 years ago...I now get air leaks causing extreme pain under my collarbone and up my neck accompanied by constant coughing of yellow mucus and pain up my neck and sometimes down my arm...

Its very frustrating because, 20 years ago, prior to the surgeries, a pneumothorax on either side, or both at the same time was easily seen on conventional x-ray...

Now...Its almost impossible to see it and yet the pain is so debilitating that it effects my ability to run my companies...

Doctors are baffled and have even suggested i'm "faking" it....

Tonight i've been in so much pain that I went to hospital for an xray where I was told to inhale and hold my breath, while xray was taken...I checked the xray myself and admit I couldn't see the pneumo despite the exact symptoms...

I then went through my post operative charts and did some recent and up to date research and found that smaller pneumo's experienced by patients with a previous history and with the titaneum staples have a better chance of catching the small air leaks if they exhale during xray rather than inhale and hold...

My reply to the person asking about after effects ... I can only say that I hope to god for your sake especially the exception and not the rule...

The extreme pain escpecially during menses, (my pneumo's are catamenial), is so dibilitating I cannot work and doctors don't give me adequate pain relief, at least for the few days prior and post my menstrual period.

I would give anything if I could find a doctor to just go back in and explore what new blebs there are and fix it....But I can't...

This disease is like a curse....And the depression from it is completely unnecessary if only I could find a specialist that would help me manage the pain while we find a solution to either eliminate the problem or at least go back in and see if anything further can be done...

But instead...I'm treated like a drug addict, because I ask for percocet, or demorral, when the fact is I hate taking anything but I have to work like the rest of the world... And I don't mind being closely monitored while a more permanent solution is being sought...

I suffer from this ordeal every day of every year for the past 30 years...

Again ... I pray to god....I'm the exception and not the rule...But if I can help anyone out there or if anyone can help me .... Please contact me...

I would love to correspond with other pneumothorax patients.

Casey.....In extreme physical pain, breathless, and tormented by doctors that write me off....

This happened to my best friend..She is only 25!!

My name is brittany quinlan. I am 19 years old. I was 16 years old when I had my first spontaneous pneumothorax. I'm still suffering from them. I had surgery on my left lung when I was 16 for multiple collapses. It was a real painful ordeal for me, and still is. I could not take any pain killers because the dosage that they gave me in the hospital was too much. I would puke up everything in my system (i'm only 100 lbs. Very tiny person).

What hurt most was that the doctors never believed me. It takes a lot. You have to really push to get these guys to believe you. I had to visit the hospital 7 times before any doctor would take me seriously. They thought because they couldn't see anything on the x-ray, that I was fine.

The procedure was alright. From time to time, I still have pains in my left lung, even after the surgery. The top portion of my lung was stapled together and was scraped up to heal to the chest cavity. For the most part it has been good, but I still get pains... And because they've done the surgery, they think I shouldn't have pain... And that I am lying.

Anyone suffering from these, realize that it is an uphill battle most of the time. Yes, some doctors will notice it. But without a history, like myself, it takes a lot of time to convince them you're not crazy.

That is truly awful.

hi my name is tim im 24 year old male from the west midlands i have had 3 Spontaneous Pneumothorax in the past 6 months in january i have the operation to sort this out im really scared what im gona be feeling when i wake up from this he said he is going to remove some lung then staple the lung shave my chest wall then stick the lung to it can some 1 help me on this 1 my email is ear timbad301'hotmail.com

im marc from Philippines...i also have spontaneous pneumothorax last year,december 16 during my bday...it was really scary and i thought of dying during the treatment of tetracycline....until now im experiencing difficulty in breathing.i missed a lot how i lived my life when im still healthy....as if that breathing very deep for me is too hard to make...and with that im quite upset...could someone advise me what to do so that i will be back to normal...?thanks a lot...more power....!



BTW,i can't able to sing opera songs now since i'm a music student because i easily get tired when i exert too much air from singing...however,is it okay for me to sing even if i have this disease?


thanks!


God bless....

Hey I'm Matt from Canada,

I had my first collapsed lung when I was 17 and had to have the tube in my lung for that... it then happened again about a month ago when I was 18 and i'm praying I'll get better. Some of your stories are very sad and I'll be praying for you!

Also does anybody know a website that has any current research on this condition? I believe that protein powder shakes may have been a contributing factor to my lung collapses.

My name is Kevin and I had a spontaneous pneumothorax in december of 08'. They put a chest tube in me for a few days then released me, when my lung recollapsed later that day. back in the hospital again then, and then they did surgery. I still feel like crap and im f****** miserable. I would like someone to contact me that has had a spontaneous pneumo or something cause i need to talk to someone who has had this. Help me out please...

Hi. My name is Dustin. I've had 5 Pneumothorax incidents since 1992. 3 on the left and 2 on the right. Don't know if there is a connection, but each time I've had one, I had eaten buttered microwave popcorn within 48 hours of the incident. I had the surgery on the right lung after the 2nd incident and the recovery was quick and even painless (relatively speaking). There was no soreness or even after effects - everything was as good as new again. However, I had the surgery on my left lung after the 3rd incident (OCT 2008). This surgery has been a long and even very painful recovery. I am still experiencing numbness on my outer chest and ribs around my side. In addition, deep breathing is always difficult, shallow breathing can at times be a task as well (seems to be more so on the colder days). Furthermore, the numb areas on the outside experience pain on the inside. Like a knot in the stomach...but its in the lung. The internal pain accompanied with the external numbness is a bit like a painful itch inside your body. By that I mean: you can't scratch it to get any relief. Its a very weird sensation. Sleeping on the left side is difficult due to the constant discomfort. It makes life in the city pretty tough, 'cause I walk everywhere - sometimes 10 miles per day...it has been exhausting of late.

Not sure why I'm experiencing a different outcome with my left side, but I scheduled an appt. with my DR. so he can check it out. I'll post the prognosis here for anyone that may be interested.

My son had surgery Dec.2007 and it took him about nine month for the stabbing pain to subside.He had a lot of nerve damage because of the large tear in his lung. The reason for a pneumo is some people have blebs in their lungs.In the lungs, a bleb is a collection of air within the layers of the visceral pleura.My concern is about the staples, can they cause infection if plaque builds up and breaks off and travels through his body.

I was just reading everyones stories and trying to get some info on the subject because Iam scheduled to have surgery in a couple weeks.
Im currently 10 weeks pregnant and 35 years old. I had my left lung collaps about 8 years ago and I had a chest tube while hospitalized for a couple of days and it wasn't too big of a deal no major pain. This time I woke up with chest pain and i knew my lung had collapsed agian. I had another chest tube put in but my lung didnt fill up so they put the tube in a differ location..still no improvement the third tube seemed to work better but not like it should. after 8 days in the hosp with my 4 month old and 7 weeks preg. i was sent home with the tube in and was told i would have the surgery when i was 12 weeks along in my pregnancy. I have been in and out of the hosp and am now two weeks away from surgery I just had my chest tube removed after 3 weeks because my chest was hurting so bad not just around the site but breathing or lying down hurts bad. I feel a little more comfortable but the pain under my shoulder bone can be unbearable. I also have numbness in certian areas from the tube. Iam very worried about having the surgery and the effects it could have on the baby. I was told that I have a bleb that is very large and it would be too risky to not have it done before the baby is born. The fact that its not completely better really leaves me no choice. I can only hope that i recover quickly

Hey everyone.

My left lung collapsed last April and I was in the hospital for a week before it re-inflated and I was released. The doctors told me there was a 50% chance of the lung collapsing again; not the best odds, but not the worst. Later that year, in June, it happened again and after that they strongly suggested the surgery. I agreed as I was tired of it all.

To answer the question some of you have about how painful the surgery is, my answer is that it depends. The first operation they did, I just woke up groggy with wires and tubes all over the place. A few days later, I sat up for the nurses to check the tubes in my side and the lung fell again. This required surgery round 2...fantastic. After I woke up from the second round, I was in pain and kept moaning until one of the nurses came over to inspect. Apparently, the epidural apparatus wasn't attached correctly to properly administer the pain medication. After they fixed this, I was ok.

It's been over year since all of that, but ever since then, I get what I call 'flutters' every once in awhile where I, for a few seconds, feel by breath catch and something shutter in my chest. I was nervous at first, but the collapsed lung symptoms have never surfaced. Lately, it's been feeling stranger in there than normal, so I may schedule an appointment to check.

P.S. I'm 24

Hello,

Im 29 years old, I had my lung collaps about 7 years ago I had the tube in my side for a couple of days, and nothing has been the same since...my right side has always been sore, deep breaths have always been difficult, theres times I would get scared that maybe something else formed in that lung. Recently had a check up, my Dr. just said everything looks perfect from the xray, nothing strange, just normal healthy lungs. I kept telling him that I do not feel anything normal, but he basically told me its all in my head. What I feel is exactly what dthacker is experiencing (which I hope he no longer has since he posted his reply). One thing I was recommended is to start excercising, respiratory excercises especially with the tri flo apparatus. Guess I'll try that for a few weeks and see what happens. I'll post my results in a few weeks....

rgds

Eric