The Journey Begins 02/20/05

In February 2005 (one month after my 27th birthday), I developed pneumonia-like symptoms and went to the doctor after a few days of very high fever (103+), night sweats, and chills. The doctor tested me for flu, but the results were negative. He listened to my lungs, and said I did not have pneumonia. However, something didn't sound quite right.

To be on the safe side, the doctor sent me to radiology for a chest x-ray, and told me he'd call the next day with the results. Once the x-ray was taken, it seemed the nurse forgot about me. I waited for a long 10 minutes or so, and finally she returned and said the doctor wanted to see me right away. She told me "good luck."

I went back upstairs to the doctor to find out what he needed. It turned out there were hundreds of small nodules over both lungs. He didn't know what they were, and tested me for TB and Melanoma. Both of these test results returned negative.

I was referred to a pulmonary doctor, who asked if I had an earlier chest x-ray for comparison. Well I hadn't been to a doctor for 10 years, as I rarely got sick growing up. He was unable to determine what the nodules were, even after ordering a CT Scan. The doctor said I would need to undergo an open lung biopsy.