We have a name..

The current lung infection is from a bug known as Moraxella Catarrhalis. It's fairly common but can cause major problems if it gets into the lungs of people that suffer from obstructive lung diseases. The treatment is Amoxycillin in relatively high dose.

So that should fix my short term illness, the breathlessness and extreme fatigue, the flu-like symptoms.
The doctors thought it might even relieve my fever, however I said I doubted it. That's from the next level of illness...

They believe I have Cryptogenic Organising Pneumonia (COP) an obstructive lung disease!. It fits with all my symptoms, the cough and the fever. It also has another name, one I came up with a long time ago, but was told I was wrong, Radiation Pneumonitis. The treatment is a course of prednisone, which is why I would improve so dramatically when I took the steroid in the past. However instead of the 2-3 week course I was self prescribing, it's a year long course!

I can't start the prednisone until the lung infection has gone. The doctor wanted me to wait a month. I told him that I wasn't going to be in any fit state if I ran this fever for another month! (new record today! 39.7C) So he reduced the stand down period to two weeks at which point he will phone me to see if the antibiotics have made any improvement to my state of health.

I suggested that the 50mg fluconazole (anti-fungal) tablets I was taking was too low, especially in light of the prescribed high dose antibiotics. The doctor actually asked me what dose I thought would be best! I suggested doubling it to 100mg but told him he was the doctor, we agreed on 100mg. This is becoming a common scenario these days as I become more and more familiar with both my treatment and the drugs used that the doctor will ask my opinion.

Well I'm looking forward to not having this darn lung infection, and then hopefully a year off at least from the fevers. Fingers crossed that we have got it right this time ! :)

A poke in the lungs with a pointed stick.

I've just returned home from my bronchoscopy procedure.
It wasn't much fun. I was told to have "nil by mouth" from 12pm last night. This I took to mean absolutely nothing by mouth including anything for my fever.
By the time I got to the admissions desk I was a shivering mess. The lady behind the counter had absolutely no record of my appointment and I was not in the surgery schedule for today. Oh hooray!

After a few phone calls someone finally took responsibility for me and I was wheeled off for the procedure. Not before I'd had a coughing fit and thrown up in a paper cup mind you!.
This held up the surgery team for a while as you can imagine they weren't too keen on sticking a camera up my nose and down my throat only to have me vomiting all over their equipment.
Luckily I soon recovered and they got under way.

They didn't find anything obvious today which is a little disappointing, however I was told that they had managed to grow a bug from the sputum sample I had provided last week. Whether that bug is a new one that caused my current chest infection or it's been around for months causing the fevers remains to be seen. I have my doubts.

There were supposed to be more tests today, but it would appear nobody bothered to actually book them. So now I'm to return on Thursday for a lung function test and a meeting with the Doctor that heads the respiratory team. What has happened to the planned CT and advanced blood tests is anyone's guess? I shall have to push them along myself no doubt.

I had a resting heart rate of 147 this morning, that's insane! most people's heart rate wouldn't get that high even during exercise. The sooner they get to the bottom of this the better! I'm sick of being sick!