Burning My Lungs

So, as many of you know, I have severe chronic asthma. It pretty much runs my life, and in November it put me in the hospital (not for the first time). My specialist, who I've been with for about five years or so, is at his wit's end. When I got out of the hospital, he suggested an option that's pretty much a last ditch effort. There's a surgery, bronchial thermoplasty, designed specifically for people with severe chronic asthma who fail to respond other treatments. It involves burning away layers of smooth muscle in the lungs, hence the post title. Asthmatics have an excess of smooth muscles, which contributes to the lungs' sensitivity. Decreasing the smooth muscles makes the lungs less likely to react to triggers, resulting in fewer attacks and exacerbations. A year ago, I probably would have said no, but after that hospital stay, I'll try just about anything. He doesn't do the procedure so I had to see another specialist who does.

I had the appointment today and it went pretty well. She thinks I'm a pretty good candidate for the surgery EXCEPT... I have to be exacerbation free for 2 months. I laughed my head off. "So, we'll be scheduling this for sixty days after I'm dead?" The problem is I have to be healthy enough to have the surgery, and the surgery itself carries a risk of causing an exacerbation. Sigh. But all is not lost. She added medicines to my regimen, tweaked a couple, and gave me some homework to do. I go back in a month for some testing and a follow up and then we re-evaluate.

While I was in the exam room, waiting for the doctor, I looked around and spotted a model on the counter. I wish I had taken a picture of it, it was amazing. It was a 3D cross-section of a bronchiole (the part of the lung that's involved in asthma). It had four individual models of a bronchiole - a normal one, a mildly asthmatic one, a moderately asthmatic one, and a severely asthmatic one. Oh My God. Looking at it, and comparing the bronchioles, erased any remaining doubts I had about the surgery. The differences were dramatic, and scary. Since I didn't think to take a picture, I did a Google search and this was the closest that I found.

Ugly looking thing, isn't it? :( So, for the next month, I'll be doing my homework, trying to get myself to a point where I can have the surgery and maybe have a normal life. I'll post an update after that appointment.