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Thanks for all the info everyone - lots of great help in this thread! I'll be having the CT angiogram on Friday, and that ought to clear things up a bit - I hope. I'm very nervous that some of my past experiences might be about to catch up with me - I've done a lot of metal working and grinding over the years. The last 7 years I spent 40 hours a week in a small building with horrible ventilation and up to 20 people at a time welding and grinding metals. The dust accumulated on my desk very heavy within a day or two of a good cleaning. Over those few years the cough got much worse and more persistent. Also, this was the only timed in my career that I was around a lot of the smoky stick welding. So, I'm fairly worried about what might turn up!

Again - thanks for all the input. I'll keep it updated...

I have similar results. I was diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis 8 years ago. Certain things trigger a flare and make things worse. Dust, paint, chemical fumes, ragweed - end up giving me bronchitis. I got the we think you have cancer call from the doc, but a lung biopsy showed sarcoidosis. Hope your follow up goes well.

So - what do you blame for causing it? What did you expose yourself to?

AH! Work place fun, brake asbestos, diesel fumes so bad birds would drop from the rafters, soaked in any oil that's made, even that is tame compared to loading Anfo, 1,200 lbs per hole 36 holes a night, and breathing the rock dust from the drill.

Real work = "Trading your health for a paycheck!" Jim

jaybee72 wrote:I'll be having the CT angiogram on Friday, and that ought to clear things up a bit - I hope.

My guess in the pool is that at least one more round of tests will appear-- bronchoscopy, needle biopsy, open lung biopsy or EBUS.

And if they poo-poo EBUS, then ask "Well, do you have EBUS?"

Morbius - is this experience talking? Why do you think one more round - are the CT scans still not typically that definitive? I was under the impression they showed all...

Goofproof - some of those things you list actually fall into my "FUN" category! One of my hobbies over the years is to collect, restore, and run antique diesel and oil burning stationary engines. So, I've breathed a lot of partially burned oils and other bad things as part of the hobby! Of course, it seems like I've read that the bad diesel smoke comes from the latest ultra high injection pressure engines as their particles are so much smaller.

I was diagnosed right after finding mold in our house. I took allergy shots as a kid for mold, then ended up sleeping 2 feet from a patch growing on an outside wall behind a nightstand. This is just a guess, I also had my hands in paint 5 days a week for 17 years.

Well, the CT came back as normal. I do not know what all was looked at, only that the nurse called and said normal. So, that's definitely good news, but still leaves some questions...

What's the language in the report that you first attached- that your lungs are similar to that of someone 68 years old? What is that about? Sorry if this has already been addressed in the thread or I misinterpret something. But I am writing in reference to a lung age of 68 years when you are apparently only 42 years old.

Exactly why I was asking - that still has me concerned. That lung age thing is meant to scare smokers into quitting, but I've never smoked a single thing, ever. I did grow up with a chain smoker dad, though.

The weird thing was the way the nurses at the imaging center acted when I got there. They asked me why I was being scanned for a pulmonary embolism, when I obviously did not appear to be in that kind of distress. That was the first I'd heard PE mentioned, and I assumed he put tha down as insurance justification? Would they gave then only looked for PE on the results, or do they still examine everything in detail?

Causes of COPD
What Causes COPD? - WebMD
http://www.webmd.com/lung/copd/tc/chron ... copd-cause

I can't answer your questions in the post directly above, but perhaps you might see a pulmonologist sooner than two months from now. I'd want to see another doctor but first I'd call 'Missy' or that allergist and find out if the lung age on report is accurate or a typo, and how they arrived at the 68 age factor.

I am sure that you have researched this matter and the possibility of COPD. You don't have to be a smoker to have COPD and I am NOT saying that you have it, but I would get in and see a Pulmonologist as soon as practicable. Best wishes,

The lung age is generated automatically by the computer program that creates that report. It simply looks at the lung volumes it measured and matches them in the average charts to the age they are closest to. Since it drops as you age, it's going to spit out an older age for those with lower volumes. They idea is to scare smokers into quitting.

From my reading I do not think its COPD as that is an obstructive issue. According to the reports mine is restrictive, which is sort of the opposite problem. (In general terms)