Not such a great week

Ok, not the most happiest of first posts, but I need to vent.

I've not had the greatest of weeks to say the very least - I've not had the greatest of years to be truthfully honest. Ever heard of a Pneumothorax? Pfft, neither had I until exactly one year ago. I'm 26 years old, fit as a fiddle, and the one people turn to for help and support, but one year ago, after a week away on holiday with my son and fiance, I started getting a painful sensation in my chest. I assumed I had pulled a muscle, and despite the strain, I carried on a normal. Then one evening, the pain worsened, and I became short of breath. I waited for my better half to get home from work, and he whisked off to A&E.

It turned out that my lung had collapsed. HOW? My lung had torn and air had escaped. The escaped air was blocked inside my chest and had crushed my lung so badly, I was finding it difficult to breathe. I have a very vivid memory of the 'Plunge' that the Dr inserted into my chest to remove the air. Umpteen plunges later, I was sent to the hospital ward, given an oxygen mask and told I may be discharged the next morning.

WOW! I couldn't believe it!... ME???

Yes I smoke. Yes I drink. Yes I have experimented, but nowhere near as much as the next person. Why me at 26 years old?

Apparently, there's a medical term for it. SPONTANEOUS PNUEMORORAX.

This is a mystery as this usually affects tall, skinny men, such as basket ball players. Obviously, I'm female and although I am very thin, I am just 5ft tall.

It's been an agonising year. I've had ups and downs. Mostly downs - Not being able to play football with, wrestle with, and carry my ten year old son has hurt more than my chest, although, the pain goes away for a while.

But this week, the pain has come bad twice as bad as the day I was first admitted to hospital.

There is still air there that is 'supposed to' SOMEHOW disappear into my blood stream, but I have a terrible feeling that it has crushed my lung again. So for five whole days, I have been laid up on the settee, trying my hardest to recover.

I cannot fly on an aeroplane for three years, I cannot carry anything heavy, stretching hurts and the alternative is an operation to GLUE the tear in my lung =\

20 something chest Xrays in one year, God knows how many hospital visits and minus every friend I ever had, I'm beyond DOWN IN THE DUMPS!

What next?

Who knows...