Re: VATS lung biopsy

[Guest guest]

Wow, lots of lung biopsy stories some are horrific. I had my lung biopsy

October 23 2009. I was deadly scared.

For two years they have been trying to figure out why I am tired, chest pain,

dyspnea, coughing and the extreme fatigue what the heck was going on.

They kept on giving cardiac catheterizations until I had on at the UWMC. They

basically said there was something else wrong with me besides my heart but send

me back to my old cardiologist.

Then it went down even farther down hill. I could not vacuum my own 12 by 12

rug. (lol) the year before I still been hiking up in the mountains. Then at once

it was all in my head….. Finally a lung doctor took notice. I have no clue how I

got there anymore.

He had to fight with the cardiologist and the surgeon who wanted to do the VATS

lung biopsy. It took almost another year and finally left for the big city….

I am sorry I did not go to the UWMC again…. I just had a hard time with 10

students around each one of them had a different opinion. Now I know not to go

to the UWMC Hospital without a referral.

I finally got my biopsy (VATS) I have no regrets; I finally know it is not all

in my head. I still do not know exactly what I have…. Some days the

pulmonologist says Cellular then Fibrotic NSIP, Hypertensive pneumonitis, RBLID.

The treatment looks a lot like UIP that he is planning. He wants me on high

doses of prednisone then on Azathioprine and other drugs like Cyclophosphamide

and even interferons but then I am one of those rare individuals that probably

prednisone could hurt me more in other ways.

All I know is that I have lung disease the docs here still think it is nothing

but Pneumonia!!(lol) My mind is at rest…..

I am not saying my body is all healed but am doing pretty well, I hope I can get

a few more endocets so I can sleep at night without the sharp pains that come

sometimes…. I guess this is from the nerves…. For me the oxygen just going down

a little bit helped me very much… I can walk again and do stuff again… I had to

buy my day time oxygen myself before..and could not and could not afford it

I think there should be a good reason for anyone to cut into you!! What are you

going to get out of it? A treatment plan but they still are not sure which one

it is… but I know it is not in my head at least…

If I knew I had UPF and there was nothing to be done about it I would not do

it….. For me it was a good choice.

I think you should try and figure out the pro and cons

Like I had to do in away along with my heart disease going of the plavix and the

other dangerous..and how bad did I really wanted to know if they were already

saying determining a complete diagnosis would be hard.

Write down the pro's and con's and the questions for tomorrow, this is just my

story and trying to help…. Erna

>

> Arlene:

> You asked me about the side effects of lung biopsy, and all I remember

> is the lung doctor telling me the percentage of side effects is quite

> high. So maybe someone else could help you!

> The city " Cambridge " (Ontario) came from amalgamation of 3 towns (Galt,

> Preston and Hespeler) years ago, and is 2 1/2 hours from Detroit,

> Southern Ontario.

> Bill

>