Monday, January 18, 2010

Is this some kind of Stephen King novel or what?

We've had this thick fog hanging over our area for the past 5 days or so. It reminds me of that movie, The Mist, by Stephen King. Where the government was doing experiments and all these huge bugs came out of the mist and attacked people. It's kind of creepy actually.

I went to the new pulmonologist today. She was baffled as to how I could have emphysema and COPD at my age. She did another alpha1 antitrypsin test just to make sure it was correct. The original test said it was negative meaning my liver is making this protein to protect my lungs like it supposed to.
She sent my chest xrays off to a specialist who only looks at chest xrays. She had never seen a case like mine either. I did a a few more breathing tests, all which came back with bad results. She recommended that I begin using oxygen at bedtime and when I am out and about during the day running errands, going shopping, etc...

I almost started crying in the office when she told me if things did not improve she would suggest I have a lung transplant. I think she could see that I was scared along with my husband, as she said that she knew all of this had to be scary for me, and that she and the staff would get us through it all. And that she had seen older people with much worse cases.

She also asked if she could use me as a case study with some colleagues. I agreed because I want others to find out more about cases like mine.

I'm not sure if my dad is taking any of this too well. On Sunday his best friend died of a sudden heart attack while hunting. He wasn't found until he was already long gone. When I called my brother to tell him about my test results he said that my dad broke down yesterday upset about my condition and about his best friend.

I really hope this is a wake up call for him to stop smoking too.

Thanks again for all of ya'lls support. Oh and my doctor got a kick out of my accent. She said she knew I wasn't a Kansas City native and at first thought I was from Tennessee. Close enough. :)

6 comments:

Corinne @ The Splendid Stuff said...

Thanks for your comment... and how random (which all blogs are I guess) that YOU of all people stopped by. Because, I happened to quit smoking as my resolution. I'll be following you, and sending good thoughts your way. :)

Katrina said...

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I'm glad you found me-- so that in return I could find you. :)

Sending lots of prayers your way.

Lori said...

Thank you for stopping by and leaving me a comment on my SITS day. I will send some prayers your way!

Savvy-Motherhood said...

prayers to you and a (hug)

Unknown said...

Hi there, Kriste--

I am so sorry to hear about all of this, it must be a very difficult time for you. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

p.s. I live just outside of Kansas City, MO....

Queenie Jeannie said...

I quit smoking nearly a year ago. So hard to do, and yet SOOO worth it!! Hugs to you!