VATS biopsy results

[Guest guest]

I really am terrible at posting. I do read the posts everyday though. I just

wanted to share my experience with the VATS biopsy that I recently had done.

After reading the posts on the subject, I decided that I would follow through

and have the procedure done. I was very fortunate, as I had absolutely no

complications or issues at all. I did find out that the pain medication that

they give you (perocette) does not set well with me and after refusing it, I

felt much better. The drug made me extremely nauseous and gave me the worse

headache I've ever had. I was in the hospital for a 8 days, which was a little

longer than I expected. They wanted to keep me there until after they removed

the chest tube. I never had any leaks, and my lung did not collapse. Before I

left the hospital, we had the pathology report back. The final diagnosis reads

as follows:

Respiratory Bronchiolitis Interstitial Lung Disease and Extensive Peripheral

Honeycomb change suspicious for Usual Interstitial Pneumonia Wedge Lung Biopsy,

Clinically right middle lobe and clincially right lower lobe.

In the comment part of the report it says:

The peripheral honeycomb changes reveal minimal inflammatory component and are

suspicious for an underlying usual interstitial pneumonia. The past history of

eosinophilic granuloma is noted. There is no evidence of Langerhan cell

histiocytosis.

Have I actually learned anything? UIP is kind of the same thing as IPF, if the

cause is not known, right? In any case, my pulmonary dr feels better about

trying the large doses of predinsone to address the inflammation. For me the

prednisone seems to make it easier for me to breathe so for right now that is

what we are doing. He believes that this is from my past history of smoking.

I'm not sure. I quit for 8 years in 2000 and started again in the fall of 2008,

only smoked lights, only 10 a day and quit again at the end of January 2009. I

am just blown away that this came on so suddenly, like one day I could breathe

and the next I couldn't.

Thanks for letting me lurk and read, and post when I can.

Darlene