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Left upper lung Cavitary pneumonia

Posted by todd4379 @todd4379, Dec 7, 2022

43 years old. In July I was diagnosed with cavitary pneumonia of the left upper lungs left wall. After a long battle, four months the pneumonia is resolved. The issue at hand is this. I continue to get deep left upper chest pain And kind of hallow feeling of dread if you will. At the same time I also have muscle pain in the same area. I had shoulder surgery Sept 2021 and my left hand turns blue if left bellow my heart as well. The Dr tells me that I am a rare case in that pain from scaring should have subsided by now. The fact I acquired this rare form of pneumonia is troubling by itself. Now to have this chest pain on top of it. At this point I am on pain meds and rest. Any info on long lasting pain from this? I have unfortunately overlapping issues here that are making it difficult to understand what is actually causing my issues.
Thanks

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Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Dec 7, 2022

@todd4379 Welcome to Mayo Connect, where we are a community of people sharing our medical journeys.

The old concept of meds and rest for long term pain is getting a close look from the medical community - it becomes a vicious cycle where we continue to get more and more weak (deconditioned) and every little setback makes it worse.

Pneumonia can often leave us feeling week and ill for a very long time, especially a severe case. What can help a great deal is respiratory and physical therapy to get back our former conditioning. As for the lingering chest pain, if it is from the pneumonia, it is probably residual - from the scarring in your lungs. I have chest pain at times when I am ill from long-term asthma and bronchiectasis - deep breathing techniques help me keep it in check (again RT can help.)

More concerning to me is the hand turning blue after shoulder surgery. This is NOT normal, and needs a closer look. If the surgeon doesn't know what is causing it, you need to be referred for further investigation. Scarring that is causing severe restriction of blood flow is not something to just live with, and rest or medication is not going to fix it.

Can you talk to your doctors and set up some referrals to find real solutions?
Sue

REPLY
1 reply
todd4379 | @todd4379 | Dec 7, 2022
In reply to @sueinmn "@todd4379 Welcome to Mayo Connect, where we are a community of people sharing our medical journeys...." + (show)
@sueinmn

@todd4379 Welcome to Mayo Connect, where we are a community of people sharing our medical journeys.

The old concept of meds and rest for long term pain is getting a close look from the medical community - it becomes a vicious cycle where we continue to get more and more weak (deconditioned) and every little setback makes it worse.

Pneumonia can often leave us feeling week and ill for a very long time, especially a severe case. What can help a great deal is respiratory and physical therapy to get back our former conditioning. As for the lingering chest pain, if it is from the pneumonia, it is probably residual - from the scarring in your lungs. I have chest pain at times when I am ill from long-term asthma and bronchiectasis - deep breathing techniques help me keep it in check (again RT can help.)

More concerning to me is the hand turning blue after shoulder surgery. This is NOT normal, and needs a closer look. If the surgeon doesn't know what is causing it, you need to be referred for further investigation. Scarring that is causing severe restriction of blood flow is not something to just live with, and rest or medication is not going to fix it.

Can you talk to your doctors and set up some referrals to find real solutions?
Sue

Jump to this post

A slow process indeed is the referral game. I was referred to a pain clinic by the orthopedic surgeon. But that was rejected. I do have a vascular referral in progress but they don't seem to be to timely. Thanks for your feed back.

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Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Dec 7, 2022
In reply to @todd4379 "A slow process indeed is the referral game. I was referred to a pain clinic by..." + (show)
@todd4379

A slow process indeed is the referral game. I was referred to a pain clinic by the orthopedic surgeon. But that was rejected. I do have a vascular referral in progress but they don't seem to be to timely. Thanks for your feed back.

Jump to this post

Keep trying - I think the vascular referral is more important for you at this point to get to the root cause.
And it would be good to pursue respiratory & physical therapy as well. I have chronic pain, and through a pain management clinic I learned to shift focus, get moving & keep moving. It not only helps reduce the pain over time, it gets you to focus on life and gradually resume yours.
Will you reach out for an RT referral?
Sue

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