August 11, 2015

9:30 A.M.     I checked in at Mercy Health Center today to get the lung nodule biopsied.  It has been growing, and finally (!), Dr. Adler has decided it needs to be looked at more closely.  I'm really getting tired of having CT scans done every 3 months.  

I've been told by several people that the Radiologist doing the procedure is one of the best, so I feel pretty confident going into it.  I'm just really hopeful to find out once and for all what this thing is, or ISN'T!

1:00 P.M.     The Biopsy is over, unfortunately, I was one of the 20% of patients that end up with a pnuemothorax.  On my way from recovery to the step down unit, I suddenly start feeling pain and extreme shortness of breath.  They do a chest X-ray as soon as I get to the room and confirm that my lung is starting to collapse.  As the pain gets worse and begins to radiate into my neck area over the next 2 hours, a second X-ray indicates we have now moved into an emergency situation.  The nurses are moving rapidly to move all my things onto my bed, unhook my monitors, and are rapidly rolling me into the procedure room, where the doctor meets me and promptly inserts a chest tube.