state of me: lungs
Made it to the appointment on time, thankfully, and did the paperwork I'd forgotten to bring with me. Then I went to the "lab" with one of the techs and did a bunch of lung function tests. They all kind of sucked, to be honest - lots of breathe in deeply now exhale hard and fast and keep exhaling past what air you have in your lungs, followed by huff and puff for ten seconds, then...so on and so forth. I got light-headed a couple times, which was expected.
Then they gave me albuterol (not in an inhaler, in a nebulizer thing, I think) and I did some of the tests again. Then, when I was jittery and shaky from the albuterol, I went back to the waiting room, and then I saw the doctor's assistant and then the doctor.
Basically, they're not entirely sure what it is. There are some things that are indicators of asthma, but a couple other things that aren't. Some stuff looks *almost* normal but not quite, but that could be normal for me or it could be a symptom of something, they're not sure. I did find out that women tend to have a double curve with asthma - there's the developing it as kids stage, and then women in their 20s and 30s tend to develop it, so this is not uncommon or unexpected. That made me feel better.
Dr. B wants to do a lung CT, both with and without contrast, and that's scheduled for next Thursday, and then I'm going back to see him in four weeks. In the meantime, I have a maintenance inhaler to take twice a day (Flovent, which I swear I've heard of before but don't remember where) and a rescue albuterol inhaler to take as needed. He said he's probably over-treating at the moment, but once we determine what's actually going on with me we can reduce the dosage or something. I'm okay with this.
My iWife asked me today if there are any parts of me that function normally, and I had to think about it. My circulatory system works okay, and my thyroid, and my kidneys and liver and spleen and all that are okay. Beyond that...respiratory, no. Nervous system, no. Reproductive, no. Digestive--gall bladder's gone, stomach rearranged. Brain chemistry, definitely not. I feel kind of pathetic now. *sigh*
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Then they gave me albuterol (not in an inhaler, in a nebulizer thing, I think) and I did some of the tests again. Then, when I was jittery and shaky from the albuterol, I went back to the waiting room, and then I saw the doctor's assistant and then the doctor.
Basically, they're not entirely sure what it is. There are some things that are indicators of asthma, but a couple other things that aren't. Some stuff looks *almost* normal but not quite, but that could be normal for me or it could be a symptom of something, they're not sure. I did find out that women tend to have a double curve with asthma - there's the developing it as kids stage, and then women in their 20s and 30s tend to develop it, so this is not uncommon or unexpected. That made me feel better.
Dr. B wants to do a lung CT, both with and without contrast, and that's scheduled for next Thursday, and then I'm going back to see him in four weeks. In the meantime, I have a maintenance inhaler to take twice a day (Flovent, which I swear I've heard of before but don't remember where) and a rescue albuterol inhaler to take as needed. He said he's probably over-treating at the moment, but once we determine what's actually going on with me we can reduce the dosage or something. I'm okay with this.
My iWife asked me today if there are any parts of me that function normally, and I had to think about it. My circulatory system works okay, and my thyroid, and my kidneys and liver and spleen and all that are okay. Beyond that...respiratory, no. Nervous system, no. Reproductive, no. Digestive--gall bladder's gone, stomach rearranged. Brain chemistry, definitely not. I feel kind of pathetic now. *sigh*
This entry was originally posted at http://blueraccoon.dreamwidth.org/1018516.html. Please comment there. |
comments