"Angry Lungs"

Yesterday was my bronchoscope. It was not the most fun I have had, but I made it through it. My pulse is always high but I was never under 134 beats per minute, usually I am about 105-110. My oxygen levels are dropping as well. They had me on a nasal cannula and my level was staying at 92%. The numbing of my nose and throat was the worst part. Thankfully my 'twilight' meds were awesome. I don't remember anything but the Dr saying "Try not to cough". It wasn't a long procedure. It took about 30 minutes for the actual scoping part. When I came to and they brought in Jimmy, we actually saw pics of my scope being done. The doctor did the lavage (pushed water into my lung and then sucked it out) and retrieved a lot of blood and infected stuff. Apparently it is all hanging out in there having a party. He took some other samples as well. The doctor didn't do any biopsies which Jimmy and I are hoping means no cancer. The doctor did say that I had a really red and swollen lungs. He called them "angry lungs", which I think is hilarious. I pictured Mrs. Potato Head on Toy Story 2, when she tells Mr. Potato Head that she "packed his angry eyes!" He did say that he thinks I have an extremely bad case of Bronchitis that may be bacterial or fungal. They are going to figure out what it is and then decide on a course of action to help get rid of it. As for the lower lobe collapse, he wants to wait on how to fix it until my results come back. The results of some tests will take 4-5 days. The Dr said he would call at the end of this week or the beginning of next week with those results. Some other tests will take up to 6 weeks. I am not sure what tests will come when, I was a little out of it to ask at the time.

He is discouraged that I have been through 6 rounds of antibiotics and 5 steroid bursts since the end of October. I had forgotten I was sick when I got home from NE. So woohoo it adds another month onto this drawn out sickness.(Grand total of 20 weeks I have been sick!) This has to be some kind of record.

So they aren't ruling out anything yet but we are crossing our fingers and praying for a good outcome.