Beseiged By Illness

Beseiged By Illness

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My life was going along well when suddenly in March of 2006 I developed a tickle in my throat. As time progressed I developed fatigue, fevers, cough, listlessness which prompted me to see my MD. In the next 4 weeks I was treated with 4 different antibiotics each stronger than the previous. I was then sent for a chest Xray which indicated both my left and right lungs were extremely congested in all lobes. At that point my MD recommended I see a Pulmonary Specialist and I preceded to make an appointment. I never made the appointment as I was rushed to the hospital because I could not breathe and felt like my lung had collapsed and impending doom was near. I was hospitalized for one month and initially I became worse day after day. I finally was told I needed video assisted thoracic surgery to obtain a biopsy. After the surgery my left lung collapsed to complicate matters. The pathologists at the hospital could not agree on a diagnosis so my slides were sent to Chicago to be read by one of the premier pulmonary pathologists in the world. After review of the slides it was determined that I had a variant of Bronchiectasis Obliterans Organized Pnneumonia (BOOP) which is a autoimmune like illness which attacks the lungs. After loosing close to 30 pounds which I couldn't afford to loose I was discharged from the hospital on 24 hr. oxygen therapy and massive doses of Prednisone which has saved my life in one way however I experienced every side effect known to man which has required visits to multiple specialists and a laundry list of medications to take. As a result of my disability I had to close my business which has put extreme financial stress on my family (at the time my daughter just was entering her freshman year of college). My medical insurance is very limited which has also drained me financially as well as a the co-payments for 2 hospitalizations. I am in a financial bind and that is why I am writing this story.

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medication, LUNGS, Autoimmune

Posted By:

ricksrx

1 Year, 2 months, 6 days, 13 hours, 52 minutes ago

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