Pulmonay fibrosis diagnosis-then got a lot better?

[Guest guest]

I got a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis from my doctor in December,

with a prognosis of 3 months to 2 years (very optimistic). This

resulted from an acute episode that got worse over the course of a

week before I went into the hospital. The dr. said I would never be

off oxygen. He said everything he saw in my lungs was fibrosis

(honeycombing) or early fibrosis (ground glass). He did not expect me

to get any better. I had the some fibrosis that was stable for a few

years, and got slightly worse about 9 months before the

hospitalization. He said no one has fibrosis and inflammation at the

same time. If I had evidence of fibrosis, the ground glass appearance

must be fibrosis in the formative stage. He has not called this

" idiopathic. "

This is the only medical problem I have. I am 83. My GP said my EKG

looks like the EKG of someone 25 years old.

I got another opinion a few months later, and that dr. said I had

stable pulmonary fibrosis and the ground glass appearance in my lungs

looked like inflammation. He consulted with a radiologist and looked

at films over a five year course. He wants to see if I continue to

improve, and then if the improvement stops, try low-dose steroids and

imuran.

Over the months, I have gotten a lot better. I can take a much bigger

breath, my breathing tests have been showing slight improvement, and

the rales in my lungs aren't as loud. My energy level has improved a

lot. The first dr. said I can be off the ox when sitting and walking

around my home (one level). My imporvement is more consistent with

the diagnosis made by the second dr.

Has anyone ever had this experience, where initially they were told

they would just get progressively worse, and then they got better? If

so, did you try steroids or other treatment and did it help? Did the

improvement last? How long? Did the ground glass appearance go away

or improve on a CAT scan? Did the ox saturation across the alveoli

improve with treatment? So far, this measurement has improved from

25% to 31% without treatment. If you got better without treatment,

how long did it take until the improvement stabilized?

Thank you for your help. Best of health to all!