In the past few weeks, followers have observed a drop in activity on my platform. For those who aren’t linked through social media, I’m sharing the difficult journey I faced—a three-and-a-half week episode that upended my usual routine.
On Tuesday, 7 October, I awoke from a midday slumber to a severe coughing spell, completely unlike anything I had ever experienced, not even during my encounter with Covid. Struggling for breath, I urgently sought assistance from my pneumologist, whose office was close by. Initially hesitant to take on emergencies, they ultimately consented to conduct an examination. After several tests and an X-ray, I was diagnosed with a pneumothorax—my right lung had collapsed.
Quickly, an ambulance rushed me to a nearby hospital where doctors placed a thoracic drainage to facilitate the reinflation of my lung. This procedure required inserting a plastic tube into my side, attaching it to a suction pump to extract air and fluid from my chest cavity. That night, I underwent excruciating pain, crying out until the medication took effect, enabling me to lose consciousness.
The subsequent days were a haze of discomfort, frequent check-ups, and hope for improvement. After a week, the tube was taken out, only for my physique to unexpectedly swell on one side. A fortunate meeting with my doctor prompted a swift return to the operating room for another drainage insertion. I was then moved to a specialized thoracic clinic.
There, new tests and X-rays uncovered a hole in my lung, resulting in subcutaneous emphysema—air from my lung inflating the tissue beneath my skin. My right arm enlarged significantly, and my face swelled noticeably. Over a span of ten days, I underwent rigorous treatment and monitoring. This culminated in a pleurodesis, a procedure where talc slurry was injected to seal the lung, averting further complications. While the swelling had reduced considerably by this point, complete recovery still felt far off.
Yesterday, they extracted the drainage tube, and after another X-ray, I was discharged. Now back home, I continue to feel quite unwell and lack the energy to return to my usual history of science blogging. I intend to share one final post, which I had previously prepared, before taking a break for several weeks.
This ordeal highlights an important lesson: refrain from smoking. Although I stopped smoking 35 years ago, my previous indulgence in strong black tobacco and cannabis left its mark, culminating in this recent health scare.