In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2)
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Friday, September 11, 2026 15:29
VIEWED: 338648
PAGE 672 of 834
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
BRENDA, I doubt you'll see this, but thanks for the explanation.
And, yeah ... it WAS a bad week!
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
No worries. I am at the library again.
Yeah, it's been pretty bad for sure.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
So, about Zpack (azythromycin): it's very resistant to being broken down and excreted, so even after you stop taking it, with a half-life of almost 3 days it'll be in your system and still at an effective concentration for about 7 more days. https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/long-azithromycin-stay-system-af
ter-you-finish-3120142/ You may worry about not being "on" an antibiotic, but it's still in there, doing its job.
Nice.
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The great thing about Zpack is that it's effective against many bacteria, but also against a special class of bacterium called "mycobacterium" which is incredibly hard to culture and to see under a microscope. Mycobacterium was the origin of a lot of previously unspecified pneumonia.
Double nice.
Quote:
What is the exact wording on the radiology report? Do you have it to refer to? "Vestigial infection" isn't standard medical terminology, but it's possible you have some scarring in your lungs from a previous infection. I have some weird shit in my lungs, calcified nodules that may have been nodes of infection, or possibly granulomas or angiitis or even cancer that got nailed with chemo, as well as larger areas of "changed lung architecture" (scarring) from radiation treatment. I'm reasonably certain you had Covid at one point, which could be the source of your diabetes and may have scarred some areas of your lungs.
I got it all for you here... Except for the BAD stuff, there's a lot of good stuff on there too. I still think it's 50/50 that this is lung cancer, but I think that it probably hasn't spread yet if it is. Strangely, I think it might be TB as well... Maybe I should stop shopping at ALDI, because that's the only place I can think of that I go where I am regularly in contact with people who would be the most likely to have that, and it's probably where I got the "suspected" Covid-19 infection as well. I haven't really left my house all that much in the last few months, and outside of my buddy's house and visits from my old man, the only other places I've been have been my CVS pharmacy and the Dollar Tree.
Quote:
Examination
Description: Chest xray, 2 views
Comparison: None Provided.
Findings:
- The cardiomediastinal silhouette is unremarkable.
- No pleural effusion is noted.
- There is no pneumothorax present.
- The soft tissue and bones are unremarkable for age.
- 8.0 cm left upper lung opacity with a possible cavitary appearance is on the lateral view.
IMPRESSION:
1. 8.0 cm left upper lung opacity with a possible cavitary apperance on the lateral view
2. Differential considerations would include malignancy versus a cavitary infections process.
3. CT recommended for further evaluation.
Quote:
Until you hear otherwise, assume the best bc that's the most likely. It's the radiologist's job to note all this stuff, even if they can't tell what it is. (And you'd be surprised how often that happens!)
Just to satisfy my medical nosiness, what color are you coughing up?
5-6 weeks ago, though rather infrequent at the time, it was a thick green color.
Maybe about a month ago it started changing. Definitely a lot more "fleshy" color. Taste was like rotten chicken nuggets (I dunno where I came up with that, but I haven't been able to eat a chicken nugget since I started coughing like this, and I may never eat them again).
Not too much nasty phlegm at first, but over the last 2.5 weeks it was quite a bit, although there would be 2-3 day periods in between where I didn't cough up anything at all. I'd say that when it was its worst, it was mostly thick and white, with red inside of it. Maybe like a vanilla-strawberry swirl yogurt or something. (Nothing super bright red or anything, but I'm not going to lie to myself and say that it wasn't because
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Quote:
Originally posted by BRENDA:
One monitor is too old and the other one is full of dust, so cleaning it would be a b&tch. Also my tv is too old to do all that stuff with. It's at least 20years old. Have to look at the cords I got and see what I can do.
Maybe take some time to clean the one up that you think would work with an HDMI cable. Short of that, look for a monitor or smaller TV that has HDMI inputs/outputs which would also work. You should be able to pick one up at a Goodwill or something similar for a song if you manage to find one.
I was afraid your monitor was about to go when we were discussing it. Don't throw it out just yet, but I think you just need to get a working used monitor and new HDMI cable and you should be back in business imediately and you can just toss out the problem monitor. These things happen. I've gone through 3 flat screen monitors over the years now. Those old CRT monitors worked forever and would probably still be working today if I had any of them. These LED flat screens are all pieces of shit that are designed to fail because they want you to just keep buying new ones even if you aren't upgrading to the biggest and the best all the time.
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This tooth has been repaired before and I don't know if it is repairable again. All I can think is there was another crack in it and all the drilling is what finally let it break.
Yeah. Cough is all gone now. So no worries there.
I know but not much I can do until I figure out a way to sort this all out.
Yeah... Bummer about the tooth. With my dental history, I can totally empathize. Look at the bright side though... You'll still have a lot more of your teeth than I do if this one needs to go.
Glad your cough is gone. Hopefully I see some good news about mine soon. Finger's crossed that I'm not already a dead man walking.
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Be Nice. Don't be a dick.
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So, as usual (!) with radiology reports, I have to look up the terms ...
Quote:
Cavitary pneumonia, also known as necrotizing pneumonia, is a severe lung infection characterized by the formation of cavities in the lung tissue due to liquefaction and necrosis. It is often caused by bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, and can lead to serious complications if not treated promptly.
Quote:
A cavity has been defined in the radiology literature as (pathologically) “a gas-filled space within a zone of pulmonary consolidation or within a mass or nodule, produced by the expulsion of a necrotic [dead, rotted] part of the lesion via the bronchial tree [coughed up]”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2292573/
Basically, a portion of your lung rots away and is coughed up. Given what you were coughing up, that sounds like you.
Eeeew!
Given the number of organisms that can cause this, especially pseudomonas bacteria and aspergillus mold, you may need to be on heavy- duty IV antibiotics or antifungals.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
So, as usual (!) with radiology reports, I have to look up the terms ...Quote:
Cavitary pneumonia, also known as necrotizing pneumonia, is a severe lung infection characterized by the formation of cavities in the lung tissue due to liquefaction and necrosis. It is often caused by bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, and can lead to serious complications if not treated promptly.Quote:
A cavity has been defined in the radiology literature as (pathologically) “a gas-filled space within a zone of pulmonary consolidation or within a mass or nodule, produced by the expulsion of a necrotic [dead, rotted] part of the lesion via the bronchial tree [coughed up]”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2292573/
Basically, a portion of your lung rots away and is coughed up. Given what you were coughing up, that sounds like you.
Eeeew!
Given the number of organisms that can cause this, especially pseudomonas bacteria and aspergillus mold, you may need to be on heavy- duty IV antibiotics or antifungals.
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
Yeah... Eeeew! is right.
Fucking gross, is probably more appropriate.
Your treatment is pretty much in-line with what I heard on the phone today, at least assuming it's not cancer. He may have mentioned a specific drug or both of them, but even though he made no mention of any IVs, he said based off my CT results if it wasn't cancer we would be going from the Z-Pack to a MUCH more aggressive antibiotic than what I'm currently on. I didn't ask, but I would assume the 2nd drug they'd be giving me is probably a stronger steroid than what they've currently got me on too.
What do you think about the cancer though? If I had cancer, do you think that the Z-Pack/Steroid I'm on would have such great results in only a day or two like I've experienced so far?
* Also... that's why I put all the "good" parts of the X-Ray results too, which to me and what I've read online point to no evidence of any spreading of cancer to or from my lungs to anywhere else, and that my heart itself seems to be fine and normal sized as well.
* The "good" parts...
Quote:
- The cardiomediastinal silhouette is unremarkable.
- No pleural effusion is noted.
- There is no pneumothorax present.
- The soft tissue and bones are unremarkable for age.
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Be Nice. Don't be a dick.
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Also...
I will be going to get the CT done on Monday. I just need to verify that my medicaid will cover it. Nobody from the provider, state or any hospital I called would confirm this for me, or even give me an estimate of what it might cost if I did have to pay for it. Some things online say that if the ER visit was warranted, I could face a co-pay of between $8 and $20. Don't care about that. I just don't want to be blindsided 3 months from now with a bill in the mail for $4,000 for a CT scan.
I was told that between Mon-Fri during business hours they have people there who can do preauths, and nobody appears to be on staff anywhere during the weekend that can answer this question for me.
I don't understand this since I've had a CT done before several years ago for my heart after the bad EKG reading that was guaranteed to be covered BEFORE I have the procedure done, but nobody can do that for me now with a much more serious and potentially life-threatening issue like I have right now. I would have gone and gotten a CT already today if I could get one single person to guaranty that my medicaid will cover the process, but looks like I'll have to just wait until Monday.
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Quote:Well, you can get a good response to ANYTHING with steroids, so that clouds the picture. Also, it's possible to have cancer AND an infection, just staying.
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
So, as usual (!) with radiology reports, I have to look up the terms ...Quote:
Cavitary pneumonia, also known as necrotizing pneumonia, is a severe lung infection characterized by the formation of cavities in the lung tissue due to liquefaction and necrosis. It is often caused by bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus, and can lead to serious complications if not treated promptly.Quote:
A cavity has been defined in the radiology literature as (pathologically) “a gas-filled space within a zone of pulmonary consolidation or within a mass or nodule, produced by the expulsion of a necrotic [dead, rotted] part of the lesion via the bronchial tree [coughed up]”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2292573/
Basically, a portion of your lung rots away and is coughed up. Given what you were coughing up, that sounds like you.
Eeeew!
Given the number of organisms that can cause this, especially pseudomonas bacteria and aspergillus mold, you may need to be on heavy- duty IV antibiotics or antifungals.
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
Yeah... Eeeew! is right.
Fucking gross, is probably more appropriate.
Your treatment is pretty much in-line with what I heard on the phone today, at least assuming it's not cancer. He may have mentioned a specific drug or both of them, but even though he made no mention of any IVs, he said based off my CT results if it wasn't cancer we would be going from the Z-Pack to a MUCH more aggressive antibiotic than what I'm currently on. I didn't ask, but I would assume the 2nd drug they'd be giving me is probably a stronger steroid than what they've currently got me on too.
What do you think about the cancer though? If I had cancer, do you think that the Z-Pack/Steroid I'm on would have such great results in only a day or two like I've experienced so far?
* Also... that's why I put all the "good" parts of the X-Ray results too, which to me and what I've read online point to no evidence of any spreading of cancer to or from my lungs to anywhere else, and that my heart itself seems to be fine and normal sized as well.
* The "good" parts...Quote:
- The cardiomediastinal silhouette is unremarkable.
- No pleural effusion is noted.
- There is no pneumothorax present.
- The soft tissue and bones are unremarkable for age.
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Be Nice. Don't be a dick.
No matter what they find, the doctors have a treatment. Even for me, with my aggressive cancer and rare autoimmunity.
But AFA infections are concerned, what they pick depends so much on the causative organism. Most drugs, even very strong antibiotics, are oral. The latest generation cephalosporins are IV bc they degrade in stomach acid.
Oh, BTWM, cough hard enough and you will bring up stomach acid, just from putting so much pressure on your stomach. Not to worry.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
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Thanks, Sigs.
Feeling pretty good overall right now, but I'm sure the steroids do have a lot to do with that. I haven't actually coughed anything up today, although I still get those dry coughs that don't taste/smell good still, but only on occasion.
Looks like my heartbeat is down to about "normal" right now too, or pretty normal for me. I mentioned that even when I was in good shape I'm usually over 90bpm to around 95bpm. Right now I'm at 97bpm (I did it with a pulse check on my wrist, so probably 95 to 100bpm, anyhow). That's down from 135bpm while at the hospital. I also haven't heard/felt my heartbeat in my right ear at all today either.
I've even had a little bit of coffee for the first time in days too.
Having a much easier time managing my glucose levels today too. Been between 70 to 110 all day long. Only did 30 on the basal pen and been keeping the basal drip at 4/hr and making adjustments here and there when I think about looking at the phone. I haven't had a high/low event to force me to look, but it's not swining so wild that I need to either. I just have to keep remembering to check is all.
I did read after asking you the question about the steroids though, and I realize that this might all be fake news and I'm really not recovering. Won't really know anything concrete until I get a CT on Monday morning. Finger's crossed.
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Yes indeed!
I have my fingers crossed for you!
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
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Coughed up my first loogie in the last 24 hours or so last night and it was tasteless, scent-free and though it wasn't clear, it wasn't dark or red at all either. Just whiteish. The first one I've coughed up in about 3 weeks that I wouldn't have thought nothing of if I hadn't had the last 3 weeks behind me.
Still get a bit of a stink with the dry coughs though, but they are few and far between right now.
last 24 hour period+ I've kept the sugar between 70 and 120, even through the night when I slept. I did make several adjustments to the dose when I'd get up to go to the bathroom.
5 days without a BM still though. I'm wondering if the steroids have me using up most of the food or something??? I don't feel any gut discomfort. You'd think I'd be backed up so bad I couldn't move at this point otherwise. Weird.
Feeling pretty good though. But I'm not going to do much today but continue to get rest until I can get that CT done on Monday.
I think I forgot what it felt like to feel good. It's been a while.
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