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Birth Date Gender Ancestors Alpha type Alpha gene Diagnosed Treatment Surgeries Siblings Children Grandchildren Great Grandchildren |
Phyllis Mrazik a.k.a. Phyl I live in Wisconsin. I am a Stitcher. My favorite color is Blue. I enjoy golf, movies, and dancing.
7/20/01 The Beginning,.....somehow I've been putting off my story and how it all began. As it happened I was diagnosed with Alpha-1-Antitrypsin in the middle of August,2000. I had been having problems with my breathing for sometime. So much so that when I parked my car at my place of employment I made sure to get there early so I could park closer to the the employee entrance. Also I had quite a scare while I was at work busy sewing in the stitching dept. All of a sudden I couldn't take a deep breath and I started to hyperventilate. So I started to breathe into the bag (tote) that I was working on. I had known about this procedure for sometime and it certainly did help and I was able to take a much needed deep breath. I was very thankful for that! This had never happened to me before and I finally realized my health and life were in jeopardy and that's when I knew I needed to seek professional help. I'd like to mention at this point that my sister Pat, had been diagnosed with Alpha-1 within the last year and a half, so I suspected that I also had it. I decided to go and have a complete physical and through a simple blood test my worst fears were confirmed. I had been scheduled for more tests and wouldn't you know it I came down with a sore throat and cold which didn't help matters. In fact it was my sister who made an emergency appointment at the doctor's office as she didn't like the sound of my voice over the telephone. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up in the hospital for a week hooked up to oxygen. At the doctor's office, my oxygen saturation was at a very low reading of only 78%!!! I didn't want to go to the hospital but when the doctor laid it on the line "it's either that or we'll be going to a funeral"!! Well, you can be sure that's all it took for me to change my mind!!! Once admitted into the hospital I was immediately put on oxygen. During my stay I was taken down to have tests taken that included a chest x-ray, an EKG, a lung scan and also a pulmonary function test. When the tests came back the lung scan showed that I has a grapefruit size bulla (bleb) in or on my right lung. It was taking up quite a bit of my lung which well explains my constant shortness of breath. In the meantime my GP got in contact with a pulmonologist who suggested I find a Thoracic surgeon and a hospital in my home area as the bulla had to be removed. I was sent home after a weeks stay in the hospital with oxygen which I had to be on 24hrs. a day 7 days a week. You can be sure I was not a happy camper. In the meantime my sister and I befriended a wonderful person by the name of Noreen. We met Noreen through the internet where she had her own web page. She also has Alpha-1-Antitrypsin and had surgery on her left lung and was getting ready to have the same procedure done on her right lung. It was through her web page that I was finally able to find a terrific thoracic surgeon, a Dr. Haasler, whom she always addressed as Dr. Sunshine out of Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. I remember my first visit with Dr. Sunshine and how impressed I was with his credentials, and his great bedside manner and how explicit he was in explaining how they were going to remove the "bleb" in my right lung. He made me feel quite at ease and I had the most confidence in him. On March 14th I underwent surgery at Froedtert Hospital. I can't believe how calm I was the day of surgery, but I must give credit to Dr. Sunshine. I had the utmost confidence in him. It also helped that my family was there to give me moral support. I also must give credit to my sister, Pat, who stood behind me all those months of waiting, who was also not in the best of health. I recall the morning of my surgery how very calm and at peace I felt. Within minutes after my arrival at the hospital I was ushered down to a small room where I was given a gown and then before I knew it I was being taken down to pre-op in a wheelchair but not before my loved ones were given a chance to wish me luck and that they would see me soon. Once down in pre-op everything moved quite fast. The surgical team was there waiting for me down past a long row of beds. They all started working on me at the same time in preparing me for the surgery. I also want to mention that a Dr. Morris, a woman doctor, who was to be my anesthesiologist called me the day before surgery and asked if I had any kind if a bad experience involving anesthesia. I told her that I had, and she eased my fears and told me she would do everything, she could to bring me out of it very slowly so I wouldn't go through the same experience as I did before. Dr. Morris did a great job for I awoke very easily and without any fear or uneasiness. I also recall waking up in ICU with no pain whatsoever and just a little lightheaded. I spent 2 days in ICU, and then onto a regular room. I would have been sent to a regular room sooner, but their were none available at the time. The nurses took exceptional care of me. While I was in ICU I had a surprise visitor!! Noreen, came to see me and it was a great to finally meet her! She had a doctor's appointment that morning and thought she would take a chance to meet me and see how I was doing. I really thought that was very thoughtful of her as she was scheduled to have surgery the following morning. They needed to repair a leak in her lung. I also got to meet her husband, Lar, who must have been a Godsend for he was so dedicated to her and must love her very much. I'm happy to report that Noreen's surgery came out very well. I spent 8 days in the hospital as I had trouble keeping solids down. They gave liquids instead, which consisted of broth (very salty) Jell-o, etc; but the broth didn't stay down either. Because it was so salty it just made me sicker. So of course they had to hook me up to an IV. I believe that the following day after a day on the IV, I was finally put on a regular diet. Yeah!! No more broth!! Also about 3 days after my surgery they were able to remove most of the bandages over my incision and also removed the drainage tubes. It was all quite painless. A nurse had already removed the catheter. It felt great to be free of all those tubes. I need to mention here that they went through my breastbone rather than through my side. Outside of stapling my lung closed after the removal of a 5 1/2 bulla or bleb they had to wire my breastbone closed. Now I tell everyone that "I'm wired for sound"!! So far I'm doing real well since my surgery. It's going on 4 months since that big day and I'm happy to say there have been no problems and I'm feeling great and have all my strength back. I'll be going for my 3rd appointment with Dr. Sunshine and each time I present him with the latest chest x-ray and I must say those lungs now are as clear as can be. I'm now able to breathe on my own without constant use of oxygen which makes me very happy. I now am able to go back to work this August. I can now start living my life again. For that I'm ever so grateful!! And I'm also grateful to my loving sister for all that she did for me and for opening her home to me. I also want to thank my brother-in-law Steve for going along with the idea of tying a rope at the end of the bed. That rope was a lifesaver!! At least I was able to get out of bed without having to wake my sister. And I'm sure she appreciated that. My thanks go to that Man upstairs for keeping a watchful eye on me. I'm so glad to be here. Phyllis |
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