[Wild Leg]

Last night, as I was leaving my classroom, my pretty little wife called & said, "I am on the way to the emergency room with Brian."
(Brian is my tall, strong, healthy, handsome, smart, hardworking 20 year old firstborn son.)

It seems he experienced a sharp pain in his chest & passed out at work. He was only out for a few minutes, but scared his boss bad enough to call the emergency contact number (my home phone) and 911.
My wife, and other son, loaded him in her car & headed to the hospital, rather than wait for paramedics.

I arrived at the hospital at almost the same time as my wife & son. They immediately took him to triage, and checked his vitals.
Everything normal, except chest pain.

His pain was 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. He's a tough kid, so he was REALLY hurting.

EKG, normal.
Blood work, normal.





Three hours later, a chest X-ray showed a collapsed lung.

Doctors really had no explanation for what caused it.
There was no trauma of any kind.

24 hours later, he is still in the hospital, being monitored.

The doctors are waiting to see if he manages to re-inflate it on his own.
I guess we'll know more about it tomorrow.


Thanks for listening.

 

[bdclark]

Very sorry to hear this Wild Leg. Im about his age and I couldnt imagine this happening to anyone, let alone someone our age. I am also a father, so I can sympathize. Remember everything will work out for the best, just keep faith. Keep us updated when you have time.

 

[TLTrex]

Sorry to hear about your son. It sounds like this...

Spontaneous pneumothorax


This refers to a condition in which the lung collapses with no apparent injury or trauma.


Blebs, which are abnormal, small, air-filled sacs in the lung, typically rupture and leak air into the pleural space leading to the spontaneous pneumothorax.


Shortness of breath and sharp pleuritic chest pain develop in apparently healthy people.


Increased length of the chest, which can be seen in tall, thin people, and cigarette smoking are the 2 key risk factors.

I pray your son has a speedy recovery. Tim

 

[2hot2coolme]

Wow! Hope he gets better!!

 

[Milk man]

I guess it will never end for us parents. Hang tuff!

 

[Wild Leg]

Estimator hit it on the nose.

My son doesn't smoke, and isn't overly tall or thin, but the doctors are using almost exactly that description.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[amickracing]

Ah, that's a simple fix! Tell him to put his finger or thumb in his mouth... tightly seal his lips around it and blow.... should inflate that lung and be good as new!

Best wishes to your son!

 

[hvacbear]

It is scary to see your child in a serious situation like this. I wish you the best.

 

[kritic]

Same thing happened to my son a few years ago he was 21 all of a sudden he had sharp pains in the chest. I thought he was faking it to get out of work. Got him to the hospital and x-ray showed a collaspe lung. Was in there about three days before they got it corrected been fine ever since. I brought him a can of fix-a-flat to inhale but he didnt think that was vert funny. Weird how that happens to young folks. Hang in there and good luck.

 

[greenm&m]

Sorry to hear that. Hope everything is going to be fine. I always hate it when the kids get sick. I am going to add you in my prayers.

 

[airmetal]

Prayers

Your Family Is In Our Prayers.

 

[Diceman]

That sucks, but it seems it happens for no reason. Take care, young guys like that are tough, he will be up and about in no time.

 

[gruntly]

Frieghtening moments, when kids get sick or injured. Instincts kick in and all that energy has no place to go. Hope he's okay.

 

[Carnak]

Sorry to here WL, I hope for a speedy recovery

 

[Green Mountain]

One good thing is that he has youth on his side. I never heard of such a thing unless an accident occured. How do they fix something like that? Better yet how do they prevent it from happening again?

Best of luck to you and your son. You never stop being a Dad.

 

[Wild Leg]

One good thing is that he has youth on his side. I never heard of such a thing unless an accident occured. How do they fix something like that? Better yet how do they prevent it from happening again?

Best of luck to you and your son. You never stop being a Dad.

To fix it, they surgically insert a tube into the cavity around the lung, then suction the air out.

In my son's case, they decided surgery wasn't necessary, and it will reinflate on it's own.


Thanks all, for your encouragement.



Nothing like a bump in the road to shake you up.

[Edited by Wild Leg on 10-04-2006 at 03:54 PM]

 

[tech_support007]

Your son and the rest of your family will be in my prayers.

 

[tonys]

friend had a similar problem last year.
had to take 3-months off.
played a LOT of golf afterwards to 'get back into the swing of things'

hope everything clears-up soon.



b.t.w. there's a lot of pray'n on this web-board
???

 

[too tall terry]

sorry to hear that as well......two summers ago, had a procedure done for what is called WOLFE-PARKINSON'S WHITE SYNDROME.......basically,in tall people,we have an extra electrical pathway(like 3 phase wiring)....when a normal person's heart skips a beat(all hearts skip),no problem,but with WPW,because of the extra electrical pathway,your heart can actually beat backwards at an accelerated rated until you pass it........had it happen every summer until procedure done.......WPW,is mainly associated with tall people....i am 6'8",how tall is your son,and hope all is well and stays well for you!!!!!

 

[Wild Leg]

My son is six-foot-nothin'.




3phase huh?

You learn something new every day.

It's amazing things work as well as they do.