Ruined my life. The hospital I ended up at made several critical errors causing extreme nerve damage. I now take narcotics everyday and they don't work much of the time. Before this i would not even take a tylenol. I have tried everything to try to eradicate this pain to no end. That seems to be when the pain will stop as it has driven me crazy .Aside from that being told by my Doctor, who I had to fight for pain killers from just to function. Last option is an injection which can cause....you guessed it, another pneumothorax. I would not be able to handle that.

I was told I had pneumothorax after going to the emergency room one day. I went to see a doctor in April 2012 and told him I was having chest pain on my left side. He advised that it could be a muscle strain and gave me ibuprofen and sent me on my way. Two months later in June, the pains got worse and it started shooting down my left arm and I was short of breath walking up stairs. I went to the emergency room and they told me I had a spontaneous pneumothorax. They gave me oxygen and hydrocodone and sent me on my way. Since then, I have been having chest pain here and there, still have shortness of breath, and still have a rapid heart rate. Even when I stand for a long time my left shoulder starts to hurt (weird, I know). This didn't happen before and doctors can't explain what it is. I went to check on these symptoms again and the doctor says I am OK. I worry about it happening again.

My first pneumothorax event happened while I was painting overhead. I couldn't get my breath and had a panic attack. I went to the hospital, where the ER doctor inserted a drain tube with suction. This happened two more times within three months – always the right lung. After the third time, the doctor blew talc into a drain tube to try and “glue” my lung bulbs to my chest cavity. It lasted five weeks, and my lung collapsed 35 percent. A surgeon was called in and did a 7-hour operation. So far, no further pneumothorax, but the operation resulted in cutting large amounts of nerves from my left armpit and around my shoulder and back side. This resulted in a large amount of scar tissue, which is hard and feels like a corset on that is two sizes too small. The doctor says that is normal and prescribed pain medication. I am now on a nebulizer four times daily. I am 80 and will have this for the rest of my life.

I have had a total of five pneumothoraxes in both lungs and surgeries on both lungs. My last surgery was seven years ago. I've been able to live a healthy, active life. Lately, my left lung has been bugging me. I can't sleep on that side, I can "feel" it when I breathe lying down, and sometimes I have quite a bit of pain in that area (thought I know it's not collapsed). Also, my chest is always "popping" into place. Have any of you experienced these symptoms or heard of it happening? I am dragging my feet going to the doctor because I don't want another surgery.

I pray that anyone with a history of pneumothorax is under the care of a specialist. My brother, 57, had a collapsed lung in October of 2002 and again in March 2003. He stopped smoking after the first incident but had to have surgery to bond the thinning tissue after the second collapse. In July of 2003, he started coughing violently, and by the time paramedics arrived got, it was too late. They were not able to get the tube down this blocked throat to incubate.

This occurred with me when I was having a surgery for T.O.S (thoracic outlet syndrome). My surgeon bumped my lung with the rib bone he was taking out. After they repaired that, I had a tube out the side of my chest. It didn't bother me, until they took it out. That was extremely painful. For a month after, I would wake up in the night gasping for breath, unable to breathe. I don't know if it was my own fear of being unable to breathe or a symptom. It has been eight years, and I still only have 50% lung capacity. I have a lot of problems breathing. If I had been told to do breathing exercises immediately after, I think it may have helped more. I also now use an inhaler. If I don't I cough all the time. Doctors need to educate their patients on what to do after this has happened for a better outcome. Also we must ask more instead of assuming. I'm only 40 and really wish I could breathe normal again.