OK, the doc seemed to have a sense of urgency about all of this. He said, Interstitial Lung Disease is when the Interstitiam (the microscopic fiber network in the lungs that extract the oxygen and put it in the blood) has become much thicker than it should be so you have trouble getting enough oxygen your blood. OK, what exactly can it be: Heart leaving water in the lungs so it could be a heart problem; Cancer; Infection, but since I was on a Z pack in the
past month he said this is unlikely; Fungal; or possibly we will never know.
Sometimes they can’t determine the kind.
The doctor said he is going to schedule a Bronchoscopy (Transbronchial biopsy) within the next two weeks. He said with this test, if it’s cancer, they should know. He said sometimes this test can be inconclusive but he hopes this will tell us if it’s cancer or not. My Pulmonary tests were scheduled for July 26th and he said he is going to call them and get them sooner. He is very concerned about how fast this is progressing. Six months ago I didn’t cough like I do now and wasn’t having the blackouts.
OK, so he said one way of treating this which works sometimes but not always is Prednisone. He said it’s much higher doses than I have taken in the past and for much longer periods of time like months. The problem he said is the side affects. Your body will collect water and salt so I will swell up like a balloon and that can cause further heart problems. The other problems are Glaucoma and Diabetes. I already have both. I asked him if that means I’ll go blind sooner, he said it’s one of the side affects. Great.
Well, that’s about it. More to come soon…
I'll post again when I know more and when the biopsy comes back.
