Thread by @DavidLat

1/ THREAD. Today I saw my pulmonologist for a follow-up on the state of my lungs, almost six months to the day when I got hospitalized with #COVID19 (3/16), and three months after my last check-up (6/8).

#COVID19 #COVID #Covid_19 #coronavirus

2/ The bottom line: although my lungs are not back to the way they were pre-COVID, overall they are looking good, and the damage shouldn't really affect my day-to-day life.

#COVID19 #COVID #Covid_19 #coronavirus

3/ First we reviewed my CT scan. The scan showed some lung scarring and "ground-glass opacities" (haziness signifying abnormality), but nothing major.

For any radiologists out there, here are the findings.

#COVID19 #COVID #Covid_19 #coronavirus

4/ My lungs are far better than they were when I was on the ventilator back in March. This is a bit apples-to-oranges, since the left image is a CT scan and the right image is an x-ray, but you can see the difference here (black = good, cloudiness = bad):

5/ He listened to my lung sounds with a stethoscope (auscultation). Everything sounded normal and clear.

#COVID19 #COVID #Covid_19 #coronavirus

6/ I took some pulmonary function tests (PFTs), which measure things like lung volume, capacity, rates of flow, and gas exchange. They showed nothing concerning -- and improvement since my last visit in June.

#COVID19 #COVID #Covid_19 #coronavirus

7/ Could my lungs continue to get better? Unclear, my pulmonologist said. The improvement could continue, or it could have run its full course. We'll see in six months at my next checkup.

#COVID19 #COVID #Covid_19 #coronavirus

8/ I asked him if I should continue with my inhaler use, Symbicort (maintenance) and Proventil (rescue). He said that if I've been feeling good, which I have, I can stop them and see how my lungs do (and go back on them if I have problems).

9/ I feel very fortunate to be doing as well as I am, in light of the many #LongCovid sufferers who still have lung and breathing problems, and I'm very thankful for the great care I received (and continue to receive).

#COVID19 #COVID #Covid_19 #coronavirus

10/ I would be classified as "still recovering" for purposes of this interesting article about lung problems of recovering #COVID19 patients, since my CT scan is still abnormal (six months after I first got sick).

bit.ly/2E75CXj

11/ But on the bright side, my lungs have gotten much better since I was in the hospital in March, and what shows up in my CT scan doesn't seem to bother me much day to day. (Thanks to @PatsyCrowley8 for the article.)

#LongCovid #COVID_19 #COVID