19 March: Not again!

The very next morning, Monday 19th March, I woke with similar pain and shortness of breath. I presented to the local GP, thinking "I'll just get this checked before going to work". With his stethoscope, he could hear the right lung was ok.....but very little air was entering the left lung...and sent me back to hospital.

While joking with the hospital staff about how "I liked the service that much that I've returned", they xrayed me and confirmed a spontaneous primary pneumothorax of the left lung.
This time the xray was a different picture, as the left lung had only collapsed 50% or so.

The hospital immediately inserted an intercostal catheter, thoraseal and suction, this time on the left underarm. I wasn't worried because I figured I'd be out in a few days, but because I'd had both lungs collapse within days, the local hospital organised a transfer to Cardiothorasic specialists in Melbourne, at St. Vincents Hospital Cardiothorasic Unit.

St. Vincents recommended I undergo a "VATS pleurodesis" operation on both lungs, an operation which they told me they use a powder to stick the lining of the lung to the lining of the chest wall. They mentioned the positive - in that this meant the left lung could never fully collapse again, but mentioned no negative.

My discharge notes read as such "He underwent VATS pleurodesis and apical wedge resection on 20 March 2007. Post op he unfortunately had a large air leak. His intercostal catheter was on suction for the 1st 48 hours however his air leak persisted for 1 week. We clamped his tube on 27 March 2007 and he again developed a pneumothorax on the left - so it was decided to take him back to theatre for a redo VATS and pleurectomy. Intra Op we couldn't isolate a leak site. Again his leak persisted post op".

Two catheters made sleeping very difficult

I had two catheters now - one in the front of my chest and one in my back, connected to the Thoraseal device with suction. This made sleep very difficult. After a week of continious suction, and little sleep, xrays showed partial success - in that 70% of my left lung had adhered to the chest wall, but i was still leaking air.

Luckily my oxygen saturation levels were staying high, because this allowed the hospital to discharge me on Friday 6th April, with a catheter still in the front of my left chest and a pneumostat device attached. The pneumostat is a one way air valve designed to let pressure out, stopping a tension pneumothorax. I realised this was a short term fix, but was happy to be out of hospital.

Just before discharge, they attached this pneumostat device.

Within a few days, I presented to the local hospital with a high level of pain and shortness of breath. I thought that the lung had collapsed again, but this turned out to be nerve pain around the site. With additional medication I was discharged the same day.

Within one week of discharge , I noticed the pneumostat had stopped whooshing air when I talked, coughed or sat on the toilet and pushed.

Exactly one week after discharge, I returned to St. Vincents Hospital and they confirmed the left lung had stopped leaking, then removed the catheter and pneumostat device. One of the happiest days of my life right there !