Pneumothorax: Collapsed Lung

Unless one has recently been hospitalized, most likely one has not (yet) had the experience of hearing the constant tormented yelps and winces of pain in agonized manifestation from the aged grandma restrained in the bed on the other side of the room, the occasional odor of feces gradually infesting the atmosphere within one's vicinity, and the rhythmic beat of contiguous farting of various lengths and pitches; the only resolve being the self-implementation of personal exile; containment in the surrounding four walls of curtain fabric.

The purpose of this literary piece strays far from seeking sympathy for myself as well as for those who have been similar distress in the past; approaching the sole definition of a bored seventeen-year-old's past time activity. However, one would be misunderstanding to think that these words have no significant value whatsoever.

According to various medical reports online, as well as the medically superior staff at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster and Surrey Memorial Hospital, both of which are in B.C., Canada, Pneumothorax is a respiratory disorder which usually occurs in teenage, undernourished or thin, tall, and not to mention Asian male bodies*¹. A simplified definition of a Pneumothorax; the bursting of a blister or bubble on the surface of the lung, creating a gap in between the lung and lung wall, causing the specified lung to deflate like a balloon, leaking air, essentially.

The suggested primary method of treating a Pneumothroax is the insertion of a chest tube, which allows the lung to fully expand in recovery. Regularly the chest tube is approximately one centimeter in diameter, composed of a flexible rubber material, which is usually connected to a suction unit, allowing the air in the lungs to regulate without flaw, aiding in the inflating and deflating of the lung, but primarily to remove the fluid and air leaking into the body. If the lung fully expands to one-hundred percent, via X-Ray and CT-Scan inspection, then the chest tube is removed, the incision is repaired via a sealing mechanism, and one can only hope the lung does not collapse again, in the short-term period.

"Ready to take a nice afternoon nap?" one of the surgical assistants asks.

"I just took one, unfortunately," I groaned, as I managed to pathetically display a lousy grin.

"Well good, but this one's a forced nap."

I felt the tension of my esophagus clench as my fists did, both wrists strapped perpendicular to the sides of my body by Velcro restraints.

"How long am I going to be asleep for?"

"Until the operation is over. Have a nice nap"

A surge of cold-hearted numbness filled my veins, proceeding through to my other arm, down my spine, to my legs which were already quite asleep, and finally to the remaining extremities. I can't recall anything after that.

If the lung does not recover properly, and through X-Ray and CT-Scan inspection an observation is made that the bubble or blister still persists on the surface of the lung, an operation is required to rid of the bubble. The method to expose of these blister(s) is to perform surgery; an operation consisted of clipping the blister(s) and sealing the leakage using a staple-like device, followed by roughening the interior of the lung wall using sand-paper, literally. Sounds like a painful process, indefinitely; thankfully an adequate amount of anesthetics is put to good use as one sleeps soundly during the course of the operation. When one awakes from the confusion, possibly one could immediately (or not) realize the three small extra incisions have been dealt to one's body, combining with the initial chest tube incision, making four in total. Preceding another couple days of careful examination and observation, not to mention a large volume of fluid (blood) loss, the chest tube is removed once the lung resumes ability at full-capacity. Indefinitely the most painful of all events, but at last the tube is out of there.

Pnemothorax is a phenomenon one is often born with, which can possibly be triggered by occurrences such as second-hand smoke or critical impact to the chest and lung area, all of which are classified as spontaneous Pneumothoraxes. It is believed that the existence of blisters on the lung surface is not uncommon for the teenage Asian male population. The development of these blisters is commonly linked to the result of a slower growing lung than body, predictably at times of sudden growth-spurts. Therefore, the assumption can be made that it is merely a matter of when the blisters will pop. Who knows, the blister could pop right...now. J

*¹ I'm not skinny, nor tall, but I am Asian. How unlucky of me. L