Mtngrl
08-07-2015, 05:57 AM
You might remember several posts from me about my efforts to get more information about what's going on in my lungs. I'm not saying I disbelieve the lung biopsy. But all the "mixed" results, and my symptoms, were suggestive of some additional condition(s).
In mid-July I had a severe allergic reaction to a mold outbreak in my bedroom. What I learned about what mold does to me (piled on top of chemo side effects!) made me realize that my apartment has probably been moldy the whole time I've lived there. The situation became acute after hundreds of gallons of water soaked my bedroom from a broken water main in the apartment above mine. Looking back, things I was attributing to chemo (i.e. neuropathy, shortness of breath) were probably caused or exacerbated by mold.
On August 3 I went in for another Abraxane/Herceptin/Perjeta treatment. I told my oncologist all about the mold. She quizzed me closely to be sure I felt able to go ahead with the treatment. And, as she always does, she listened to my lungs with a stethoscope.
She heard less air movement in the right lung than in the left, and she ordered a chest X-ray. Two days later she called me to say the radiologist thinks there might be an infection in my lungs. She then talked with the folks in pulmonology, who said I probably should have a bronchoscopy.
I'm away from Boston (and the mold) right now, but will attend to that the week of August 23, when I'll have my next chemo.
Oh, and I've been sleeping on an air mattress on the front porch, because my landlord refused to get me a hotel room. I wore a respirator rated for mold most of the time I was inside. Also, I'm moving to Colorado. The movers came two days ago. I'll fly to Denver on August 27.
In mid-July I had a severe allergic reaction to a mold outbreak in my bedroom. What I learned about what mold does to me (piled on top of chemo side effects!) made me realize that my apartment has probably been moldy the whole time I've lived there. The situation became acute after hundreds of gallons of water soaked my bedroom from a broken water main in the apartment above mine. Looking back, things I was attributing to chemo (i.e. neuropathy, shortness of breath) were probably caused or exacerbated by mold.
On August 3 I went in for another Abraxane/Herceptin/Perjeta treatment. I told my oncologist all about the mold. She quizzed me closely to be sure I felt able to go ahead with the treatment. And, as she always does, she listened to my lungs with a stethoscope.
She heard less air movement in the right lung than in the left, and she ordered a chest X-ray. Two days later she called me to say the radiologist thinks there might be an infection in my lungs. She then talked with the folks in pulmonology, who said I probably should have a bronchoscopy.
I'm away from Boston (and the mold) right now, but will attend to that the week of August 23, when I'll have my next chemo.
Oh, and I've been sleeping on an air mattress on the front porch, because my landlord refused to get me a hotel room. I wore a respirator rated for mold most of the time I was inside. Also, I'm moving to Colorado. The movers came two days ago. I'll fly to Denver on August 27.