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What can cause a sharp pain either in my chest or right below it?

Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Feb 3 7:51pm | Replies (105)
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Profile picture for jimrandolf25 @jimrandolf25

I have been diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a very strong allergic reaction to mold, a probable fungal infection within my lungs (most probably a reaction to living in the presence of mold for 6 months without knowing we had mold in our home) and mild sleep apnea. I too have had random chest pains, have a loop recorder (for my heart) and have had brachycardia (in one instance after exercise), and tachycardia on a few occasions. I am scheduled for a lung biopsy this Friday, 1/23/26 and water will be inserted into my lungs during the procedure to obtain a better view of the fungal infection at the bottom of my lungs.

Is the insertion of water in the lungs a "normal" procedure? Does it pose any additional risk to me during the procedure?

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Replies to "I have been diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a very strong allergic reaction to mold, a probable fungal..."
Janell, Volunteer Mentor | @jlharsh | Jan 19 8:05pm

Hi, @jimrandolf25 and welcome! I am glad you are here and connecting to others with similar chest pain. It sounds like you have gone through quite the journey to understand how a reaction to mold may be impacting you.

I am not a medical professional and needed to research a bit to learn about the biopsy you describe scheduled for Friday. It sounds like a Bronchoscopy and also a Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) done at the same time. The BAL It is also called bronchoalveolar washing. During the procedure, a saline solution is put through the bronchoscope to wash your airways and capture a fluid sample. The cells or bacteria in the fluid sample may be tested, helping pin down a diagnosis.

I went to the home page, searched for Bronchoalveolar Lavage and found Connect Discussions and Comments: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/

Also, here is a link where I found information above about the procedure: https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/bronchoscopy-and-bronchoalveolar-lavage-bal/

How are you feeling, physically and also about having this procedure done? Do you have concerns?

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