Back at it

I almost don’t know where to start so I’ll just tell all you super dedicated PNA fans how my right lung is doing. On Oct 30th I had my most recent procedure with the pulminologist. She is a professor and surgeon at the University of Cincinnati. I’ll start with the problem: After my lung surgery in May in which they took out my middle lobe and reconnected my lower lobe to my upper lobe by a procedure they call “resection” which is where they reconnect the bronchial tube that leads from the trachia into the actual lung they thought that it should heal up fine by July. So we were set to return in July when I was back in the hospital with fevers. They found that my lung had collapsed. A bronchioscope revealed the reason for that collapse: my bronchial tube had covered over with scar tissue and granulation. So that’s when they started the procedures:

1. On the first time in during the month of July they cut out the scar tissue with a laser. All was good so far. Now they were going to see: would it grow back?

2. In September they went back in and  found that not much had grown back…just some. At that point they told me, “Let’s do this again in two months and maybe that’ll be the last time.

3. Two weeks ago Dr. Starnes went in for the third time and found that my bronchial tube is getting week and collapsing along with further growth of scar tissue blocking off the lung. So she took a balloon and stretched out the tube. Bad news is she is worried that my bronchial tube may need expanded with that balloon every three months from anywhere from the next two years to the rest of my life. She said if they did nothing it would no doubt completely collapse and cause me to have to undergo surgery to have the lower lobe of my right lung taken out through another painful surgery. wow. 

So anyway, we are going back to North Africa and then I will have to fly back alone to the states (this is a specialized surgery and also a sensitive situation that, if messed up by another uninformed doctor, could cost me my lung or life) every three months in 2009. All I can say is that I am learning to trust in the Lord. We have had about $12,000 in unexpected medical costs this year and God has provided over $6,000 of it so far. I am waiting on him for the rest of it!