3 months post total white out empyema and decortication having problems with breathing?
pulse ox starts out at 97 but can go to 84 in less than a hundred feet. Do duo neb treatments 4 times a day. To percussion and drainage. Quite tight in area where ribs removed. I am an RN, but specialized in Psych. I do not have experience that can guide me through recovery. I understand it can take a year. OK. But what can I do to increase my odds of full recovery?
Had great surgeon, and this all occured 2 weeks after carpel tunnel surgery where my husband was told I had aspirated, classic course. I thought everything was fine until I woke up thinking I pulled a muscle...and my breathing ability plummetted until I was 74-84% on pulse ox. I have hx of asthma 40 years, but had been under control for the last 20, as I worked hard at keeping it that way. But this is so totally different. I feel like a novice.
Am walking, coughing up those wonderful little mucous plugs we all love so much, trying to do aerobics, but it is slow going.
hw long and what should I be doing??
1 Answer to "3 months post total white out empyema and decortication having problems with breathing?"
Posted by VoluptuousVix3n Dec 12th, 2012 at 10:30AM
The goal of treatment is to cure the infection and remove the collection of pus from the space between the lung and the inner surface of the chest wall. Antibiotics are prescribed to control the infection.
The health care provider will place a chest tube to completely drain the pus. A surgeon may need to perform a procedure to peel away the lining of the lung (decortication) if the lung does not expand properly.
When empyema complicates pneumonia, the risk of permanent lung damage and death goes up. Patients will need long-term treatment with antibiotics and drainage. However, most people fully recover from empyema.
(Can we try and pretend that I just knew all that naturally and didn't just Dr. Google it, lol)
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