Nelson Mandela's collapsed lung is troubling

[malaise]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110127/ts_nm/us_safrica_mandela
<snip>
Former South African President Nelson Mandela is recovering from a collapsed lung and could be released from hospital as early as Friday, a source close to Mandela told Reuters on Thursday.

The 92-year-old anti-apartheid icon was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital on Wednesday for what his foundation described as routine tests.

"Mandela was treated by military doctors and should be discharged tomorrow," the source said, asking not to be named.

President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress appealed for calm on Thursday after the hospitalization set off speculation in local media about Mandela's health.
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This is more than I can bear right now. A collapsed lung at 92 is not good news.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Depends of amount of collapse, I should think.

Mr. d has had same problem 4 times, this last one was a "partially" collapsed lung, treated immediately.
recovery time is long, bout 6 weeks.

[PCIntern]

2. got a great story...

when I was in school, we were playing touch football, and this one guy got touched a little harder than he had to be. He went back to his room, didn't feel well, and went to the Student Health Center, they took an X-ray, looked at it and sent him home. Well, he sat on the edge of his bed all night: every time he tried to lie down, he got scared that he couldn't breathe. At 6:10 A.M., he gets a call from Student Health: the 'other' resident came on duty at 6, took one look at his film, saw that his lung was collapsed, and they got him right in to reinflate it. Close at the plate, as we used to say...

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. TIME is something that HE knows about

AFTER BEING IN A PRISON FOR A THIRD OF HIS LIFE.

At that age... he will decide if he comes or goes.

NO SMALL WALK TO FREEDOM....... read it in the 70s

[malaise]

5. How old is your dad?

I've had friends with collapsed lungs but they were all in their 40s and 50s.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Mr. d is my sweetie, malaise. We are both over 60.

He has had 4 collapsed lung episodes, this latest one was in August when he fell off a ladder.
So the good news was he immediately knew the symptoms and knew we had to go ER.
The bad news was he knew the immediate treatment ( exceedingly painful).
the better news was lung was only 1/3 collapsed and the immediate treatment kept it from being worse.
Given all that, he admitted to being weak as a kitten for weeks, and feeling "very fragile" for several months.

[malaise]

9. Geez your dad is a tough cookie

Wow -four collapsed lung episodes!

[madmax]

3. The Great Man is in our hearts

and our thoughts.

[Warpy]

6. Any health problem at 92 isn't good news, not even a cold.

By that age, the body just doesn't recover the way it did even 20 years earlier, which is why they don't do organ transplants on people over 90 even when those people come from families of centenarians.

Usually a spontaneous collapse occurs when a bleb, or blister, inside the pleural space ruptures. Some of those can be present since birth in some patients. Others might be associated with smoking or other insults to the lungs and pleurae.

Poor Mr. Mandela. Chest tubes hurt. I hope it never recurs.

[Exultant Democracy]

7. The man is a serious fighter, after his years of imposonment it amazing that he is still alive.

His autobiography Long Walk to Freedom is a must read.