On Monday, I went to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, which is part of the Kaiserslautern/Ramstein military bases, to meet with a pulmonary specialist for some breathing problems that I've had. After talking with him for a bit he told me that I may have Bronchiectasis, which is similar to Cystic Fibrosis. For anyone like me that is a non-medical type what this means is that my lungs (may) tend to trap mucus, which provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Consequently, my body is always fighting infection and with each lung infection, my lungs lose some elasticity and trap more mucus, which provides a breeding ground for more bacteria, which... The doc did not specifically provide mortality data for Bronchiectasis but did say that for those diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis the average adult mortality age is 40ish.
-Considering that I'm 32 it makes 40ish sound not that far away -
He said that he won't know for sure if I have this condition until after a high resolution CT scan. Additionally, he ordered a lot of blood work to check for other issues. Ultimately, he said that for my sake, he hopes this is simply asthma since that is easily treatable.
I’m scheduled for the CT later this month. On February 11th, I’m scheduled to go back to the pulmonary specialist to have my CT results and blood work results read to me.
In my prayers, I'm praying that it's not Bronchiectasis. I'm praying that it's not asthma either. I'm hopeful that it's simply aftereffects from having pneumonia in mid 2007. By the way, the doc said that if I have Bronchiectasis, it was probably a result from having pneumonia that was untreated for three months. That will teach me to not go to the doctor!
I would sure welcome prayers for healing, negative results on Bronchiectasis, asthma and other diseases. As always, I pray that the Lord’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment