Total shock
This is continuing from “High”
In the past few posts, I have referred to my pressure breathing unit which had to be used four times a day. This was relative to me being diagnosed with emphysema back in 1962 and re-confirmed around 1964 when it became necessary for me to use the unit.
After I moved to Clayton from Oakland in 1972, I asked my family doctor for a referral to a doctor of internal medicine. When he realized that I really wanted a pulmonary physician, he sent me to the Director of Pulmonary Services for John Muir Hospital.
The usual forms where completed on the day of my appointment; with no tests except the usual height, weight and blood pressure. The doctor and I chatted for a little while and then he asked me why I was using the pressure breathing unit. I was taken aback and replied that it was for the emphysema. And here comes the shocker. He told me that I did not have emphysema.
When I started to protest, he emphasized that I did not have it. He explained that as soon as I had said that my lung capacity had increased he knew I did not have it. It is not possible to increase lung capacity with emphysema. My mouth opened and closed several times but nothing came out.
But that was just the beginning. In running down my list of medicines,he told me that I didn’t need that one, that one, and that one. Now I was in a state of total shock. One of the medicines was Predisone which I had been taking in relatively large doses for almost ten years and was have a problem coming off. Within two months, I was able to get come off Predisnone; apart from the rare occasion when my acute and chronic bronchial asthma would flare up more than usual.
There are times when a second or third opinion becomes important.
