I have been trying to figure out what the illness my mother is suffering from for the past year. The dr would diagnose and prescribe antibiotics every time. She would get marginally better then within a couple weeks hardly able to breathe, constantly coughing and exhausted. Recently she began coughing blood, became extremely swollen to the point that her eyes were almost swollen shut. With the extensive list of antibiotics she had been prescribed including clendamycin hcl, and the length of time she had been suffering with little or no improvement, it was apparent that it was neither bacterial nor viral. So I began to look into pulminary illnesses caused by fungi. Chronic Pulminary Aspergillosis fit her symptoms perfectly and I began persuading her to have her dr investigate it. Her dr was not interested and once again she was prescibed antibiotics... One month later she was so ill that she had to go to hospital. An initial xray was all they needed to diagnose pneumonia. they gave her anti-inflamatories and 3 different antibiotics. By day 2 she was still in the same boat, I began pushing again for tests for aspergillosis because of how every peice fit together perfectly. Including her poorly maintained farm environment (chickens, goats, rabbits) that she is unable to keep up with on her own. I asked repeatedly for days to get a ct scan and biopsy. The third day they found orthopneumovirus in her sputum culture and declared it the cause. Previous days sputum samples had not yielded any such findings yet they were convinced this was her only ailment. I was told that they had not but would definitely get another culture to check for possible fungi/mold. I was handled. By day 5, she was worse although they believed her swelling was decreased. I showed them recent pictures of her to show that she looked seriously 30-40lbs heavier than her normal 130lb self. I explained that extreme cases of aspergillosis causes bloody sputum and then enters the bloodstream and causes massive swelling before it becomes fatal... That seemed to finally sink in. A ct scan and brochoscopy/biopsy were ordered. The CT scan showed 2 seperate ball shaped masses consistant with aspergillosis. When she went in for the bronchoscopy, the performing dr (5th dr involved) said to her in an extremely hateful manner "There is no way we can do this! Your breathing is not strong enough! It is definitely cancer!" and he simply walked out... Long story short, one mass was constricting artery into the lung from the heart so a stint was placed on day 6, brochoscopy/biopsy completed on day 8. Today is day 9, results from biopsy will not be back for 2-3 more days. The 5th dr again today said "It is definitely cancer, there is no type of fungus that looks like this. We have not tested for it because there is no need. I know what cancer looks like when i see it. What medical proffession are you in???" he then scoffed at me when I tried to get him to look at the 10 plus images of ct scans from patients with aspergillosis that looked almost identical to my mothers. He proceeded to say that she was probably going to die and that the radiation treatment they have been offering since day 6 is the only thing that may save her... Keep in mind, I had to spell aspergillosis for him on day 3, they do not have the results back from the biopsy to determine what type of cancer it may even be and the hospital in particular is an enormous "Cancer Institute". I am trying to find a dr in the Eastern United States that is experienced in this field. I am not in any medical field. I am just a son trying to save his mother. Any help would be beyond welcome!
I have been trying to figure out what the illness my mother is suffering from for the past year. The dr would diagnose and prescribe antibiotics every time. She would get marginally better then within a couple weeks hardly able to breathe, constantly coughing and exhausted. Recently she began coughing blood, became extremely swollen to the point that her eyes were almost swollen shut. With the extensive list of antibiotics she had been prescribed including clendamycin hcl, and the length of time she had been suffering with little or no improvement, it was apparent that it was neither bacterial nor viral. So I began to look into pulminary illnesses caused by fungi. Chronic Pulminary Aspergillosis fit her symptoms perfectly and I began persuading her to have her dr investigate it. Her dr was not interested and once again she was prescibed antibiotics... One month later she was so ill that she had to go to hospital. An initial xray was all they needed to diagnose pneumonia. they gave her anti-inflamatories and 3 different antibiotics. By day 2 she was still in the same boat, I began pushing again for tests for aspergillosis because of how every peice fit together perfectly. Including her poorly maintained farm environment (chickens, goats, rabbits) that she is unable to keep up with on her own. I asked repeatedly for days to get a ct scan and biopsy. The third day they found orthopneumovirus in her sputum culture and declared it the cause. Previous days sputum samples had not yielded any such findings yet they were convinced this was her only ailment. I was told that they had not but would definitely get another culture to check for possible fungi/mold. I was handled. By day 5, she was worse although they believed her swelling was decreased. I showed them recent pictures of her to show that she looked seriously 30-40lbs heavier than her normal 130lb self. I explained that extreme cases of aspergillosis causes bloody sputum and then enters the bloodstream and causes massive swelling before it becomes fatal... That seemed to finally sink in. A ct scan and brochoscopy/biopsy were ordered. The CT scan showed 2 seperate ball shaped masses consistant with aspergillosis. When she went in for the bronchoscopy, the performing dr (5th dr involved) said to her in an extremely hateful manner "There is no way we can do this! Your breathing is not strong enough! It is definitely cancer!" and he simply walked out... Long story short, one mass was constricting artery into the lung from the heart so a stint was placed on day 6, brochoscopy/biopsy completed on day 8. Today is day 9, results from biopsy will not be back for 2-3 more days. The 5th dr again today said "It is definitely cancer, there is no type of fungus that looks like this. We have not tested for it because there is no need. I know what cancer looks like when i see it. What medical proffession are you in???" he then scoffed at me when I tried to get him to look at the 10 plus images of ct scans from patients with aspergillosis that looked almost identical to my mothers. He proceeded to say that she was probably going to die and that the radiation treatment they have been offering since day 6 is the only thing that may save her... Keep in mind, I had to spell aspergillosis for him on day 3, they do not have the results back from the biopsy to determine what type of cancer it may even be and the hospital in particular is an enormous "Cancer Institute". I am trying to find a dr in the Eastern United States that is experienced in this field. I am not in any medical field. I am just a son trying to save his mother. Any help would be beyond welcome!