OK, so I went to the ER a couple days ago, because since I have a trach, I am bound to get sick way more often as I’m told. Have had pneumonia about 6 times so far this year, after the procedure, in December of 2008. I went to the ER because I believed that I was getting pneumonia again, and told the EMTs that I know what it feels like, and I believe I’m getting it again.

Of course then I started to have my little anxiety/panic attack. Chest pain, breathing hard, felt hopeless, frusterated, and in despair kind of feeling.

Doctor ordered a chest x-ray, umm… a bunch of blood cultures he said, and just a general examination.

After about 3 hours of waiting in a boring ER room, watching boring TV, and sitting there. He came in to tell me that the x-ray looked a LITTLE spotty, but not at all pneumonia. And the blood cultures all came back normal.

He said it was a mucous plug followed by a panic attack. ‘Cause when I got there, they gave me 2 MG of Ativan tablet form. Took all the edge off of what I was feeling, I stopped crying, and just felt ok.’Cause almost everytime I come in, I’m hysterical, because I hate going to the hospital, and not knowing ya know? So everytime I come in they either give me IV Ativan or Ativan pills…

BUT, I STILL feel conjested.. like a gurgly sound in my chest when in breathe in and our sometimes. And feel very weak, and my muscles ache, and I feel very just.. lethargic.

I have Muscular Dystrophy, type FSH, BTW. With history of respiratory failure, distress, arrythmia, tachy heart, and high blood pressure… etc ETC.

I just feel like I’m STILL sick, even though he said everything is fine. I feel just… blah and conjested, and when I go to clean my trach tube every morning, there is hard, well, very hard gunky green mucous that is very stuck to the inner cannula.

What should I explain to my doctor? Or what could be going on?

SORRY it’s long.