The Official Diagnosis and Treatment

I interrupt Daniel’s continuing essay to officially confirm what all those readers of this blog who I think should know already know, I underwent surgery last month for “empyema” (pus on the outside of the lung) which required “decortication” (peeling off of the lung old pus that had become a fibrous membrane coating the lung) by “thoracotomy” (a 7-10 inch cut from the back to the side between the ribs giving the surgeon access to the lungs). Incidentally, this is the same surgical procedure used for those with lung cancer, except instead of removing pus the surgeon is removing parts of the lung. If you’re curious, you can google those words and learn more than you ever want to know about this. The following link is a good summary of the illness and procedure. http://www.chest-surgery.com/disease-info/empyema_decortication.html

While the doctors were always reassuring and upbeat, thinking carefully about what was actually said and what was not said and what they actually did, I got the impression in my case the empyema was fairly severe (lots of pus and lots of it stuck on the lung and some had been there for awhile). However, the surgery was completely successful (as, I might add, was specifically promised me in a very powerful way in a priesthood blessing the night before the surgery) and I’m feeling pretty good, except that the wounds inside from the “decortications” take a while to heal (several months) causing “some discomfort” (doctor speak for sometimes it can still really hurt).