Dear mummy, this is a chapter of our lives I’m sure we’d rather forget but worth documenting. The road to recovery can often be a bumpy one. After my mummy’s last hospital stay eight weeks ago (see posts here) tragedy struck again and led to her second lung collapse. Fast forward a couple of weeks and she is back home after undergoing lung surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Doctors concluded that as this was her second documented spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung) the likelihood was she would be plagued with reoccurring episodes until she was fixed once and for all. A pneumothorax is a collection of free air in the chest cavity (thoracic cavity) that causes the lung to collapse. It is called a spontaneous pneumothorax because there is no rhyme or reason why is happens and may occur in people who are young and otherwise healthy, like my mummy.
My mummy has had many small spontaneous pneumothorax’s in the past and they have always resolved without treatment caused by air blebs bursting on her lungs; however the past couple of episodes have ended in the insertion of a chest tube to free the air in the chest cavity. But enough was enough and we couldn’t resume normal family life with the thought of another episode plaguing us. So my mummy had surgery called a mechanical pleurodesis with a camera (video-assisted thoracoscopy or VATS) through keyhole surgery. This procedure was done to prevent another pneumothorax from occurring in the future for my mummy.
Mechanical pleurodesis causes inflammation and scarring by mechanically rubbing the parietal (outside) pleura with gauze. The idea was to obliterate the space between the lung and the chest cavity wall (the pleural cavity) so that fluid (water, blood, or pus) could no longer build up between the layers. Pleurodesis is a procedure that is designed to get the two layers of the lung lining (the pleura) to stick together. It was very painful and uncomfortable there is no denying it and the surgery lasted a couple of hours however the recovery period in ICU lasted nearly six hours trying to get pain management under control once she woke up.
Surgery was scheduled with a specialist team and after a bumpy ambulance transfer from Basingstoke Hospital up to the Heart Unit in Oxford she went under the knife. This surgery would greatly reduce the likelihood of a persistent air leak and prevent a recurrence, so the whole family backed the decision.
My mummy has been through the mill and we were glad to leave hospital having seen the inside of wards for nearly eleven weeks on and off. But recovery has been hard. The surgeon has asked her to keep walking and exercising each day to keep herself out of breath. This means she has started to go on little walks around the house.
She was lucky enough to get further afield when Grandma took her out into the woods in Micheldever to see the bluebells. How time has changed, as this time last year we were exploring the carpet of blue and running around playing. This time she hobbled down pathways led by a very supportative Grandma.
We joked how the bruises were also blue like the bluebells, as she filled her lungs with the crisp clean air walking through the woods. It was so good to feel the sunshine on tired bones and it lifted her spirits for a little while.
The majority of her bruises have come out now from all the cannulas and taking bloods. My mummy’s chest is sore and tight and walking is with baby steps but it’s good to be back outside in the sunshine. We wouldn’t wish this on our worse enemies and the pain at times has been unbearable and we all have a new-found empathy for people who stay in hospitals and go through chronic pain.
Hopefully this is the end of her lung troubles and the surgery has fixed the problem once and for all but a little part of us is still unsure. The summer should distract my mummy enough to forget her woes and we can’t wait for all the festivals and events we have planned later in the year. But for now it’s time to rest and get better, one breath at a time.
Love Bella x
dearmummyblog.com 
Your poor Mummy has been through it these past 11 weeks, although it has not been a nice time lately, I really hope that now she has had surgery she can move forward and put all this behind her, and I am sure cuddles from you will make Mummy feel a lot better x
I sincerely hope the surgery has worked for you and you don’t have to go through this again 😦 Sending love x
Oh my goodness what a scary thing to go through I do hope it has helped your Mummy and it is an end to her lung issues now.
One breath at a time indeed. Your mummy is a strong woman and i hope she feels her strength again soon x
Oh no, I had no idea mummy had been through it a second time 😦 I really hope she’s feeling better now and that this second lot of surgery works.
Louise x
This sounds awful. Hopefully she will feel a lot better now
Lots of love to you all. Hope you are all feeling better soon.
Oh no, it doesn’t sound like you’ve had a good time lately. Hope she feels better soon x
Oh my goodness, I can’t imagine how painful a collapsed lung would have been. Like you said though, now it’s just one breath at a time. (I love that thought by the way)
Glad to hear the surgery went well and that you are on the road to recovery now
Oh my goodness you poor thing, hope and pray the surgery really did fix all the trouble. I can’t imagine how hard the recovery must have been.
What a horrible time it’s been for you guys, I happy you’re on the road to recovery and that it all goes well!
Oh gosh what an ordeal for you all, especially your mummy. I hope the surgery proves to be a success.
What an awful ordeal it must have been for you all, and it must have been so scary too. I really hope you feel better soon and the surgery was a success.
Oh wow what a rubbish time you’ve been having as a family. I hope your mummy is now on the mend and you can have lots of fun in the sun.
Oh sorry to hear about this. Hopefully the surgery has fixed it all.
Poor mummy, hope the surgery has been successful so you can enjoy lots of fun together in the bluebells
I really hope that this is the end of the troubles and that surgery has fixed the issues x
Your mommy is very brave for going through such a hard surgery and being in hospital for so long. It’s nice that blue bells made her feel a little bit better.
Blimey, this all sounds rather terrifying! Fingers crossed those wonderful doctors did their job and that’s the end of the lung collapses.
Fingers crossed this is the end of the trouble. Sending well wishes for a speedy recovery
💙🌸
Poor mummy. I really hope that you have seen the past of it and it stops happening it must be extremely hard on all the family.
Oh what a horrible thing to have happened – I hope this means the end of this problem! Speedy recovery!
Oh my gosh! I read your blog a lot and I had no idea that your Mummy was really suffering like this. It must have been really frightening for you Isabella to be away from your Mummy, and I am sure she was scared too!
I am so glad your Mummy has had the surgery now though and is on a healthy road to recovery.
Sending you both lots of hugs xx
This must have been such a scary time for you all!!! Really wish you all the best health wise!!
Oh I no I am so sorry, it must have been such a tough time. keeping my fingers crossed that it helps
Oh gosh, it sounds absolutely awful. I really hope the surgery means the end of collapsing lungs for you lovely. xx