I knew I needed a layoff but...

Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First thing
Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call later
that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from doc
telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
Spontaneous pneumothorax.

They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or something.)
They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.

I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six to
eight weeks. Feh.

BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.

Zen Cohen wrote:
> Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
> pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
> subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
> seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First thing
> Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call later
> that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from doc
> telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
> Spontaneous pneumothorax.
>
> They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
> overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
> whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
> that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or something.)
> They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.
>
> I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six to
> eight weeks. Feh.
>
> BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.
>
>
Sheesh. My wife has had about 5 of those over a long period. From her
late 20s to about 45 years and both lungs, although luckily not at the
same time. They had no idea of the cause and that is part of the
Spontaneous compared to caused by trauma.

They finally fixed it with an operation (Pleurodesis) which effectively
stuck the lung to the chest wall (in crude terms). Been fine ever since.

Bob

"Zen Cohen"
>
> I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six
> to eight weeks. Feh.
>
> BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.
>

Damn, glad you are better!

Sorry you don't know the cause, maybe Bob's thing is something to check.

I have been a little lazy, I just got back to the gym today, had a 5 day
rest, I did get on the bike yesterday for 10 miles in a light rain.

Take care,

Burr

In article <482a2e61$0$5714$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
"Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
> pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
> subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
> seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First thing
> Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call later
> that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from doc
> telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
> Spontaneous pneumothorax.
>
> They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
> overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
> whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
> that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or something.)
> They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.
>
> I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six to
> eight weeks. Feh.
>
> BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.

That is weird. I've never heard of that...

Were you having any trouble breathing with that collapsed lung?
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

On Tue, 13 May 2008, Zen Cohen wrote:

> Spontaneous pneumothorax.

Yikes! That sounds deeply unpleasant - wishing you a good recovery.

A chap at work had one of these a few months ago. It happened while he was
visiting family; he went for a weekend in Paris and ended up staying
rather longer.

tom

--
Heinlein has done more to harm SF than has any other writer, I think. --
PKD

Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
> Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
> pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
> subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
> seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First thing
> Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call later
> that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from doc
> telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
> Spontaneous pneumothorax.
>
> They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
> overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
> whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
> that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or something.)
> They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.

Oh, my. Collapsed lung? I expected you will get normal overuse injury.
That was something you deserved for your hard effort, but collapse lung?
It feels like a bureaucratic mistake, when somebody mixes files. It
could be mine collapsed lung you got. I'm riding too fast recently...

> I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six to
> eight weeks. Feh.

Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?

> BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.

Cardio! ;-)

I wish you speedy recovery. And no more pain. Get well soon, and kick
some more ass. You did great before.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R

"Andrzej Rosa"
>
> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?

> --
> Andrzej Rosa 1127R

Today was "Leg Day" and after do dead lifts (21-10-10-8) my lungs were
working very hard.

I'm getting to old for this crap but I love it!

Burr

Dnia 2008-05-14 Burr napisa³(a):
>
> "Andrzej Rosa"
>>
>> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
>> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
>> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?
>
>> --
>> Andrzej Rosa 1127R
>
> Today was "Leg Day" and after do dead lifts (21-10-10-8) my lungs were
> working very hard.

Not harder than during a cardio session, and cardio is supposedly fine
after a week of layoff.

> I'm getting to old for this crap but I love it!

I did deads your style (20 rep) once, so I know what you are talking
about. They are killers, and if you do three more sets, you are made
out of tougher material than I am. Not that I expected anything less
from you, of course. :-)

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R

"Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:562rf5-4m.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
> Dnia 2008-05-14 Burr napisa³(a):
>>
>> "Andrzej Rosa"
>>>
>>> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
>>> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
>>> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?
>>
>>> --
>>> Andrzej Rosa 1127R
>>
>> Today was "Leg Day" and after do dead lifts (21-10-10-8) my lungs were
>> working very hard.
>
> Not harder than during a cardio session, and cardio is supposedly fine
> after a week of layoff.
>
>> I'm getting to old for this crap but I love it!
>
> I did deads your style (20 rep) once, so I know what you are talking
> about. They are killers, and if you do three more sets, you are made
> out of tougher material than I am. Not that I expected anything less
> from you, of course. :-)
>
> --
> Andrzej Rosa 1127R
I just always do 3 or 4 sets, shoulders all the way back and yes I sit for a
while after.

Burr

"Omelet" <ompomelet@gmail.com> wrote in message
.....
> That is weird. I've never heard of that...
>
Apparently doesn't happen all that often. Anytime someone asked me how I did
it (while reading) they looked at me as if I were lying.

> Were you having any trouble breathing with that collapsed lung?

Very little. I thought I detected a slight wheeze. The breath-force test
showed abnormal, though.

I went on a long walk the day after it happened and felt a little fatigued
but I almost went and worked out anyway because I've often felt a little
crappy before and had a great workout. IIRC doc said that with one lung
collapsed I was in greater risk of other one one collapsing too. That woulda
sucked

"Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3vnqf5-rbs.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
> Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):

.....
> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?

Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
too much.

....> I wish you speedy recovery. And no more pain. Get well soon, and kick
> some more ass. You did great before.

Thanks. I'd go to the gym today if I could.

Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
>
> "Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:3vnqf5-rbs.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
>> Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
>
> ....
>> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
>> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
>> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?
>
> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
> too much.

Makes sense, unfortunately. Do you plan to learn some new kind of
breathing technique? There are some, which probably will limit the
intra abdominal pressure to some extent. Worth a Google search, at
least.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R

"Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news8lrf5-ota.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
> Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
>>
>> "Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:3vnqf5-rbs.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
>>> Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
>>
>> ....
>>> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
>>> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
>>> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?
>>
>> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
>> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
>> too much.
>
> Makes sense, unfortunately. Do you plan to learn some new kind of
> breathing technique? There are some, which probably will limit the
> intra abdominal pressure to some extent. Worth a Google search, at
> least.
>

One breathing technique will be to simply breathe properly and consciously
rather than haphazardly and mindlessly as I've been doing. Doc says that
there is a 30-50% chance of reoccurrence of spontaneous collapse where it's
happened before so I need to be careful.

"Bob Volkmer" <mfw@volkmer.biz> wrote in message
news:ScadnVLrn8Ftp7fVnZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@posted.inter node...
> Zen Cohen wrote:
>> Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
>> pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
>> subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
>> seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First
>> thing Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call
>> later that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from
>> doc telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
>> Spontaneous pneumothorax.
>>
>> They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
>> overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
>> whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
>> that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or
>> something.) They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.
>>
>> I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six
>> to eight weeks. Feh.
>>
>> BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.
> Sheesh. My wife has had about 5 of those over a long period. From her late
> 20s to about 45 years and both lungs, although luckily not at the same
> time. They had no idea of the cause and that is part of the Spontaneous
> compared to caused by trauma.
>
> They finally fixed it with an operation (Pleurodesis) which effectively
> stuck the lung to the chest wall (in crude terms). Been fine ever since.

That's good to hear but discouraging that these things tend to recur if
they've happened once. I've been reading up on this and hear the surgery can
be miserable. How did your wife do? Is she able to do strenuous exercise if
she wants to?

Zen Cohen wrote:
> "Bob Volkmer" <mfw@volkmer.biz> wrote in message
> news:ScadnVLrn8Ftp7fVnZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@posted.inter node...
>> Zen Cohen wrote:
>>> Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
>>> pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
>>> subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
>>> seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First
>>> thing Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call
>>> later that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from
>>> doc telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
>>> Spontaneous pneumothorax.
>>>
>>> They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
>>> overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
>>> whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
>>> that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or
>>> something.) They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.
>>>
>>> I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six
>>> to eight weeks. Feh.
>>>
>>> BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.
>> Sheesh. My wife has had about 5 of those over a long period. From her late
>> 20s to about 45 years and both lungs, although luckily not at the same
>> time. They had no idea of the cause and that is part of the Spontaneous
>> compared to caused by trauma.
>>
>> They finally fixed it with an operation (Pleurodesis) which effectively
>> stuck the lung to the chest wall (in crude terms). Been fine ever since.
>
> That's good to hear but discouraging that these things tend to recur if
> they've happened once. I've been reading up on this and hear the surgery can
> be miserable. How did your wife do? Is she able to do strenuous exercise if
> she wants to?
>
>
They fixed both lungs over a 15 year period. The first surgery was
miserable but the one they did about 10 years back was very straight
forward. Nowhere near as invasive as the first op and recovery was quite
fast. Things have improved no end for the procedure. I can't recall if
they mentioned no strenuous exercise for her post op but if they did
they needn't have worried. She isn't into exercise at all.

Bob

In article <482b1fb4$0$7698$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
"Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote:

> "Omelet" <ompomelet@gmail.com> wrote in message
> ....
> > That is weird. I've never heard of that...
> >
> Apparently doesn't happen all that often. Anytime someone asked me how I did
> it (while reading) they looked at me as if I were lying.
>
> > Were you having any trouble breathing with that collapsed lung?
>
> Very little. I thought I detected a slight wheeze. The breath-force test
> showed abnormal, though.
>
> I went on a long walk the day after it happened and felt a little fatigued
> but I almost went and worked out anyway because I've often felt a little
> crappy before and had a great workout. IIRC doc said that with one lung
> collapsed I was in greater risk of other one one collapsing too. That woulda
> sucked

Indeed...

I'm glad that you are okay now!

Cheers!
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

In article <482b214b$0$7687$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
"Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote:

> "Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:3vnqf5-rbs.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
> > Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
>
> ....
> > Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
> > to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
> > which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?
>
> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
> too much.
>
> ...> I wish you speedy recovery. And no more pain. Get well soon, and kick
> > some more ass. You did great before.
>
> Thanks. I'd go to the gym today if I could.

Inhale on the lift, exhale on the drop.

I don't generally breath hold when I lift...

YMMV.
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

"Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:482b214b$0$7687$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>
> "Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:3vnqf5-rbs.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
>> Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
>
> ....
>> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't
>> need
>> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
>> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for
>> weights?
>
> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably
> do too much.

I'd love to hear a more thorough explanation of this, and/or to hear a
documented relationship between Valsalva type breathing and lung
collapse even in a single other person.

> ...> I wish you speedy recovery. And no more pain. Get well soon,
> and kick
>> some more ass. You did great before.
>
> Thanks. I'd go to the gym today if I could.

Hope you're on the mend.

I will lift a little extra for you in the meantime. Since we were
discussing pullups, I earned a pullup PR on your behalf today -
bodyweight + 36 kg (tactical pullup grip, meaning palms away and thumbs
next to index fingers and not around the other side of the bar), and
done on an Olympic barbell held onto the top of my power rack with a
jumpstretch mini as a glorified rubber band on each side.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

"Steve Freides" <steve@fridayscomputer.com> wrote in message
news:699h6bF2vc89sU1@mid.individual.net...
> "Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:482b214b$0$7687$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>
>> "Andrzej Rosa" <bakters@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:3vnqf5-rbs.ln1@bakters.bandit.home...
>>> Dnia 2008-05-14 Zen Cohen napisa³(a):
>>
>> ....
>>> Why no weights? Did they say some rationale for this? Lungs don't need
>>> to work hard during weight lifting, and there are plenty of exercises
>>> which will not stress your ribcage, so why so much longer for weights?
>>
>> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
>> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
>> too much.
>
> I'd love to hear a more thorough explanation of this, and/or to hear a
> documented relationship between Valsalva type breathing and lung collapse
> even in a single other person.
>

I believe doc said VM can cause "bleb" formations, which in turn can cause
the lung to collapse if bleb ruptures. Do you disagree with this. If so,
why? Seems not all that much is known about causes of spontaneous
pneumothorax.


>> ...> I wish you speedy recovery. And no more pain. Get well soon, and
>> kick
>>> some more ass. You did great before.
>>
>> Thanks. I'd go to the gym today if I could.
>
> Hope you're on the mend.
>
> I will lift a little extra for you in the meantime. Since we were
> discussing pullups, I earned a pullup PR on your behalf today - bodyweight
> + 36 kg (tactical pullup grip, meaning palms away and thumbs next to index
> fingers and not around the other side of the bar), and done on an Olympic
> barbell held onto the top of my power rack with a jumpstretch mini as a
> glorified rubber band on each side.

Congrats (and thanks). I've been doing nothing but walking and I'm bored.
Gonna start light cardio next week.

"Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:48306a8e$0$5736$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...

>>> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp
>>> if someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I
>>> probably do too much.
>>
>> I'd love to hear a more thorough explanation of this, and/or to hear
>> a documented relationship between Valsalva type breathing and lung
>> collapse even in a single other person.
>>
>
> I believe doc said VM can cause "bleb" formations, which in turn can
> cause the lung to collapse if bleb ruptures. Do you disagree with
> this. If so, why? Seems not all that much is known about causes of
> spontaneous pneumothorax.

This is all over my head medically, and I've never heard of a "bleb"
before - I'm neither doubting nor believing, just saying it would be
nice to have a second opinion, either in the form of literature that
confirms or denies what your doctor is saying, and/or having another
doctor confirm that this happens at least sometimes, and/or at least
hearing of another human being who has been through the same sequence of
events.

>>> ...> I wish you speedy recovery. And no more pain. Get well soon,
>>> and kick
>>>> some more ass. You did great before.
>>>
>>> Thanks. I'd go to the gym today if I could.
>>
>> Hope you're on the mend.
>>
>> I will lift a little extra for you in the meantime. Since we were
>> discussing pullups, I earned a pullup PR on your behalf today -
>> bodyweight + 36 kg (tactical pullup grip, meaning palms away and
>> thumbs next to index fingers and not around the other side of the
>> bar), and done on an Olympic barbell held onto the top of my power
>> rack with a jumpstretch mini as a glorified rubber band on each side.
>
> Congrats (and thanks). I've been doing nothing but walking and I'm
> bored. Gonna start light cardio next week.

Walking in hilly terrain is great - might be a good next step for you,
and a big enough hill can be pretty decent exercise.

Hang in there ...

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

"Steve Freides" <steve@fridayscomputer.com> wrote in message
news:69bf3qF32782kU1@mid.individual.net...
> "Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:48306a8e$0$5736$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>
>>>> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
>>>> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably
>>>> do too much.
>>>
>>> I'd love to hear a more thorough explanation of this, and/or to hear a
>>> documented relationship between Valsalva type breathing and lung
>>> collapse even in a single other person.
>>>
>>
>> I believe doc said VM can cause "bleb" formations, which in turn can
>> cause the lung to collapse if bleb ruptures. Do you disagree with this.
>> If so, why? Seems not all that much is known about causes of spontaneous
>> pneumothorax.
>
> This is all over my head medically, and I've never heard of a "bleb"
> before - I'm neither doubting nor believing, just saying it would be nice
> to have a second opinion, either in the form of literature that confirms
> or denies what your doctor is saying, and/or having another doctor confirm
> that this happens at least sometimes, and/or at least hearing of another
> human being who has been through the same sequence of events.
>

I actually found a coupla support groups for this thing and it seems a
number of the 'stricken' have been told by their docs that the VM can cause
spontaneous collapse in vulnerable people. While I wouldn't mind following
up with a doc who's a little more knowledgeable in this area, that's good
enough for me to be more careful about my breathing when I start back with
weights.

On May 13, 8:12 pm, "Zen Cohen" <atu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
> pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
> subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
> seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First thing
> Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call later
> that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from doc
> telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
> Spontaneous pneumothorax.
>
> They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
> overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
> whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
> that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or something.)
> They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.
>
> I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six to
> eight weeks. Feh.
>
> BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.

Holy crap.

Well, spontaneous pneumothorax definitely beats spontaneous
combustion, right?

Wishing you a speedy and full recovery, Zen!

--

On May 13, 9:54 pm, Omelet <ompome...@gmail.com> wrote:
[...]

> Were you having any trouble breathing with that collapsed lung?

Uh, he's okay so it's okay to make with the stupid jokes???

....

I'll take your lack of response as a yes:

Zen said, "Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but
not very intense
pain in my upper right side."

But what he failed to include was that he was "sitting quietly
reading" while running full tilt through a gauntlet of ninja
assassins.

Ninja assassin #1: "How does he DO THAT?? He's sitting quietly reading
but still racing through the gauntlet!"
Ninja assassin #2: "Well, he's Zen Cohen after all. What do you
expect?"
Ninja assassin #1: "Ooh, look, Pedro got him in his upper right side."
Ninja assassin #2: "Pedro?
Ninja assassin #1: Yeah, a new Mexican assassin trainee. Hey, it's
some new program. What can I tell you?"
Ninja assassin #2: "They really need to register. On the other hand,
you can't argue with the results."

(curtains close)

--

On May 13, 9:05 pm, Bob Volkmer <m...@volkmer.biz> wrote:
> Zen Cohen wrote:
> > Sitting quietly reading last Saturday I felt a sharp but not very intense
> > pain in my upper right side. After about 5 minutes the pain pretty much
> > subsided and was replaced by a dull irritation. I decided to hold off on
> > seeking treatment for the time being bc I'm not all that bright. First thing
> > Monday I went to my doc who ordered a chest x-ray. Told me to call later
> > that afternoon. About 15 minutes after the x-ray, got a call from doc
> > telling me to go to the emergency room bc I had a 40% collapsed lung.
> > Spontaneous pneumothorax.
>
> > They inserted a chest tube to reinflate lung and told me I'd have to stay
> > overnight. For some reason the tube was painful as hell and I spent the
> > whole night wide awake despite morphine, ambien, vicodin. (Nurse told me
> > that the resident who did the insertion might've hit a nerve or something.)
> > They removed the tube this afternoon and discharged me.
>
> > I feel great now but doc said no cardio for a week and no weights for six to
> > eight weeks. Feh.
>
> > BTW, despite doing a CT scan they couldn't tell me what caused this.
>
> Sheesh. My wife has had about 5 of those over a long period. From her
> late 20s to about 45 years and both lungs, although luckily not at the
> same time. They had no idea of the cause and that is part of the
> Spontaneous compared to caused by trauma.
>
> They finally fixed it with an operation (Pleurodesis) which effectively
> stuck the lung to the chest wall (in crude terms). Been fine ever since.
>
> Bob

Wow. It's incredible what the medical field/practitioners can
accomplish. You're well aware of that fact, of course.

I wonder if anyone has ever suffered both simultaneously. With 40%
collapse, if someone did have it occur at the same time they'd still
have two lungs with 60% capacity. Would that be enough to get to the
emergency room? Life is fragile.

Just saw an article about a student who fell off a roof about 24 hours
after he'd graduated from college. No witnesses have come forward, but
they don't suspect any foul play. There was mention of various
possibilities like alcohol, suicide, and accident.

Regardless, you just never know what life is going to throw at you.

Bob, Zen, (and your wife, too, Bob) I'm glad you're both still here!

--

On May 14, 1:28 pm, "Zen Cohen" <atu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
[...]

> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
> too much.

I believe that's part of what killed Elvis.

The Valsalva effect a.k.a. holding your breath during exercise.
Somethingsomething building up intrathoracic pressure which impedes
the blood flow to and from the brain and might cause you to black out.

"If an individual holds his or her breath throughout the exercise,
cardiac problems such as elevated blood pressure and irregular
heartbeats may occur. An athlete who fails to breathe properly when
exerting effort, especially during weight training, may experience a
Valsalva effect. This reaction includes a rise in blood pressure,
during which dizziness or fainting may occur." From:
http://www.humankinetics.com/product...xcerpt_id=3082

With reduced lung capacity, I'm guessing the dangers might occur more
readily?

Again, wishing you a full and speedy recovery, Zen.

(Watch out for those ninja assassins!)

--

In article <4830984e$0$5733$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
"Zen Cohen" <aturny@hotmail.com> wrote:

> I actually found a coupla support groups for this thing and it seems a
> number of the 'stricken' have been told by their docs that the VM can cause
> spontaneous collapse in vulnerable people. While I wouldn't mind following
> up with a doc who's a little more knowledgeable in this area, that's good
> enough for me to be more careful about my breathing when I start back with
> weights.

Don't breath hold dude. That's only for competing powerlifters. There
is no need for that in middle aged people like us.
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

In article
<d862349c-40c2-4e14-a085-4d79c34c5292@24g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>,
Curt <curtjames@gmail.com> wrote:

> On May 13, 9:54 pm, Omelet <ompome...@gmail.com> wrote:
> [...]
>
> > Were you having any trouble breathing with that collapsed lung?
>
> Uh, he's okay so it's okay to make with the stupid jokes???

I'm sorry that you took that as a joke.
It was not meant that way...
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

In article
<8fe75e18-c7d6-4496-84ea-77b7fb1bc8fa@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>,
Curt <curtjames@gmail.com> wrote:

> On May 14, 1:28 pm, "Zen Cohen" <atu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> [...]
>
> > Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
> > someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
> > too much.
>
> I believe that's part of what killed Elvis.

And you accuse ME of posting jokes about it?

Sheesh!
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

"Omelet" <ompomelet@gmail.com> wrote in message
newsmpomelet-F32325.20352618052008@news.giganews.com...
> In article
> <8fe75e18-c7d6-4496-84ea-77b7fb1bc8fa@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>,
> Curt <curtjames@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On May 14, 1:28 pm, "Zen Cohen" <atu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> [...]
>>
>> > Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
>> > someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably
>> > do
>> > too much.
>>
>> I believe that's part of what killed Elvis.
>
> And you accuse ME of posting jokes about it?

I thought E's straining to poop really was a factor in his death.

"Curt" <curtjames@gmail.com> wrote in message
.....
> I wonder if anyone has ever suffered both simultaneously. With 40%
> collapse, if someone did have it occur at the same time they'd still
> have two lungs with 60% capacity. Would that be enough to get to the
> emergency room?

I've heard that one collapsed lung (at least the type I had) might not be
that big a deal but it can lead to the other collapsing, which would be a
big deal.

"Curt" <curtjames@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:8fe75e18-c7d6-4496-84ea-77b7fb1bc8fa@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> On May 14, 1:28 pm, "Zen Cohen" <atu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> [...]
>
>> Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
>> someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
>> too much.
>
> I believe that's part of what killed Elvis.
>
> The Valsalva effect a.k.a. holding your breath during exercise.
> Somethingsomething building up intrathoracic pressure which impedes
> the blood flow to and from the brain and might cause you to black out.
>
> "If an individual holds his or her breath throughout the exercise,
> cardiac problems such as elevated blood pressure and irregular
> heartbeats may occur. An athlete who fails to breathe properly when
> exerting effort, especially during weight training, may experience a
> Valsalva effect. This reaction includes a rise in blood pressure,
> during which dizziness or fainting may occur." From:
> http://www.humankinetics.com/product...xcerpt_id=3082
>
> With reduced lung capacity, I'm guessing the dangers might occur more
> readily?
>
> Again, wishing you a full and speedy recovery, Zen.
>

Thanks.

> (Watch out for those ninja assassins!)

Actually I was running a gauntlet of wheelchair-bound ninja panhandlers. At
least I thnk they were ninjas.

On May 18, 10:16 pm, "Zen Cohen" <atu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
[...]

> I thought E's straining to poop really was a factor in his death.

It was.

I know this because in a previous life... I was a fried peanut butter
and banana sandwich. The rest of that particular story is NOT for the
squeamish.

--

On May 18, 9:35 pm, Omelet <ompome...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article
> <8fe75e18-c7d6-4496-84ea-77b7fb1bc...@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>,
>
> Curt <curtja...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On May 14, 1:28 pm, "Zen Cohen" <atu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > [...]
>
> > > Doc said it had to do with the pressure it induceson the lungs, esp if
> > > someone holds their breath during the exertion phase, which I probably do
> > > too much.
>
> > I believe that's part of what killed Elvis.
>
> And you accuse ME of posting jokes about it?
>
> Sheesh!

haHA! Man, it gets better and better.

Yes, Om. I am accusing you of making light of Zen's collapsed lung AND
the untimely death of Elvis. My GOD, man, just what kind of demented
person ARE you???

Seriously, the first question was a preface to my own attempt at humor
in light of Zen's survival. God bless you and your continued good
health, ZC.

This second bit was a statement of fact and unrelated to any attempt
at humor on my part. I believe the Valsalva effect is part of what
killed Elvis.

You may commence stuttering and stammering at your leisure.

And Zen, I meant no disrespect to you or your condition at any point
in this conversation.

--

On May 18, 9:33 pm, Omelet <ompome...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article
> <d862349c-40c2-4e14-a085-4d79c34c5...@24g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>,
>
> Curt <curtja...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On May 13, 9:54 pm, Omelet <ompome...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > [...]
&