Unplanned Weekend – Hospital

This summer I have been having all types of new experiences. Two internships (one in D.C.), wisdom teeth removal, and lastly: a trip to the hospital.

Since I got back from D.C., I had a cough. It had been going away and getting much better the last weeks, so I thank God for giving my mom wisdom. She still scheduled the check up. On Thursday, I explained to the doctor that when I slept on one side, I would cough, so I simply slept on the other side. The doctor took an x-ray and found that I had pneumothorax. My right lung had shrunk 70%. The doc said this happens a lot in young men and told me that they would do a simple procedure to suck out the air pocket and allow the lung to expand out again. Basically, he said it was like a tire that had a bubble, and the bubble broke off. Then the lung size drops significantly because of the hole. It just happens and isn’t because i’m un-healthy or anything. It usually happens in skinny males. (I’m not that skinny am I?)

After he told me that I had a collapsed lung, it made sense. That was why it was more tiring for me to play basketball. I had been running off my other lung basically. Still, I wouldn’t have known it myself. I think maybe because I’m young, I was pretty functional with 70% of one lung collapsed.

I went to the hospital Thursday night. On Friday morning, they stuck the tube in me. They novacaned it up and plugged it into me. Then they turned on the vacuum for the tube to suck out the air pockets in my chest so that the lung would take up its normal size again. Truth be told, having a tube in you is VERY annoying. Every move you make is extremely painful. On Sunday, they stopped the vacuum to see if the lung would stay inflated 100% by itself. Then 24 hours later, they took the tube out of me. That was this morning. Now I’m home.

I got to read more than half of “The Art of Divine Contentment” by Thomas Watson. Just the book I needed. It’s so easy to complain about pain and suffering… but it should remind me of Jesus’s sacrifice more and remind me to put my hope in the 2nd coming.

After the surgery on Friday, the truth of the following verse just hit me…

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
– Psalm 139:13,14

Praise the Lord! I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

Now it makes sense why my shoulder was crooked. It’s looking good now. God was definitely with me. Praise God that I can get this out of the way before school starts. Also, my parents haven’t gone to China yet. Even in my wisdom teeth removal, I wasn’t put to sleep, which would not be so good since I had 70% of one lung not functioning. =)

Man’s plans don’t always work out. I didn’t get to go canoeing, but oh well! Thanks everyone who visited me on Sunday. Please pray that I would not have this again. Doc says usually if it happens again, it will happen within one year, and that there is a 20% chance of reoccurrence. One doc said I should resume normal activities in a week, but the other doc said 2-3 weeks, so I’m not sure which I should listen to.

On the way home from the hospital, I was very glad that “I was free.” Being in that hospital room for days was starting to drive me crazy.