Yesterday, I reported to St. Francis Medical Center for my lung lavage. As I told you Tuesday, my doctor said that he wanted to do a broncioscopy to extract some mucus from my lungs by pumping water into the lungs through a tube he would put down my throat. He could also take biopsies with surgical instruments if he saw anything. He said I would be fairly awake for the procedure, although I would be partially sedated.
It sounds like some form of torture, but at the end of the day, the worst part of it was the drive to the hospital, which was during the middle of an unexpected snowstorm. The nurses were real attentive. Although they screwed up the IV on the first attempt, which hurt like hell, they struck the vein on the second go-round.
As for the actual procedure, it turns out I went into a deeper sleep this time than the previous time I had a broncioscopy done. Then, I remember something being rammed down my throat and remember a drowning feeling. This time, I only remember the camera going down my nose. After that, I went out cold. The doctor told me he accomplished what he wanted when I woke up. Afterwards, I was coughing profusely, and the doctor said that was my body reacting to the water that was put down my lungs. He hooked me up to a nebulizer, which is a machine with an inhalation tube that looks like a hookah. You put the mouthpiece in your mouth and inhale. After about a half hour the coughing fits went away.
While I wouldn't recommend the procedure to anyone for the fun of it, it wasn't as bad as advertised.
It sounds like some form of torture, but at the end of the day, the worst part of it was the drive to the hospital, which was during the middle of an unexpected snowstorm. The nurses were real attentive. Although they screwed up the IV on the first attempt, which hurt like hell, they struck the vein on the second go-round.
As for the actual procedure, it turns out I went into a deeper sleep this time than the previous time I had a broncioscopy done. Then, I remember something being rammed down my throat and remember a drowning feeling. This time, I only remember the camera going down my nose. After that, I went out cold. The doctor told me he accomplished what he wanted when I woke up. Afterwards, I was coughing profusely, and the doctor said that was my body reacting to the water that was put down my lungs. He hooked me up to a nebulizer, which is a machine with an inhalation tube that looks like a hookah. You put the mouthpiece in your mouth and inhale. After about a half hour the coughing fits went away.
While I wouldn't recommend the procedure to anyone for the fun of it, it wasn't as bad as advertised.
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