Once upon a time
Random items from my past, present, and future.Tuesday, May 29, 2007
My Lung Operation
I had a collapsed lung in Vietnam in October 1969. When it happened one evening I knew immediately what it was since I had had several others. I was at the BOQ at the First Field Forces Provisional Artillery Group Headquarters in Dalat. I told my boss. He had a couple people take me to the local U.S. Army clinic in Dalat. It had one doctor and limited facilities. We went by Jeep and we were armed as we were driving through the countryside after dark. The army doctor sent me to the civilian hospital in Dalat for an xray. It took a while to find someone there to run the xray machine. It was after midnight when I got there. It was a Vietnamese doctor who took the xrays. After they were developed, he looked at the xrays and said he couldn't see anything wrong. We drove through town again in the dark back to the army doctor. He put the xray on his light and immediately said I had a collapsed lung and showed me the area where it was. I stayed in the clinic for the rest of the night and then I was sent back to the BOQ to get my things. I was sent to Cam Ranh Bay.
At the Cam Ranh Bay hospital, I had a tube inserted to remove the air leaking from my lung. I spent at least a week there, maybe more. I was sent by a medical flight from Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam Camp Zama Army Hospital in Japan. Since it was a short flight, I was designated as ambulatory and I got to sit in a regular seat instead of riding on a stretcher. I got asked by a doctor at Camp Zama what I always considered the most stupid question I had ever heard, "Did I want to get my lung repaired in Japan and go back to Vietnam, or did I want to go to the States to get my lung fixed?" I chose the States. I can remember getting a haircut at the PX barbershop at the hospital. It was the first time I had ever gotten a haircut from a woman (Japanese woman even). After about three days in Camp Zama, I was sent on a medical flight to Travis Air Force Base in California. While I was at Camp Zama, I bought my first 35mm camera. I think it was a Yashica. I used it until I got a new camera for Christmas in 1984 (a Pentax Super Program which was a gift from Charolette, JJ, and Jeff).
On the way to Travis I was not considered ambulatory, so I was on a stretcher. They were concerned that my lung might collapse again. The stretchers were stacked three high in four rows at the back of the plane. We had several Air Force Nurses checking on us during our flight which took about 10 hours. I was wearing hospital pajamas and a robe. As we prepared for takeoff at Yokota Air Force Base, Japan, we heard a loud bang and the plane, which was taxiing, lurched. One of the tires on the plane had a blowout. The plane stopped right there while the tire was changed. Most of us stood around on the taxiway and talked while we waited. The rest of our trip was mostly uneventful. I remember getting to brush my teeth using a small sponge on a stick that had toothpaste built into it. It was meant to be used without water. It was much better than nothing.
Anyway, Travis was just a stopover point as I was enroute to Brooke General Hospital at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. I don't think I even spent a whole 24 hours at Travis. I played cards with a lady volunteer who was one of many volunteers that greeted and talked with all the evacuees arriving from Vietnam. I do remember arriving early in the morning and getting to watch a space launch. Since the first Apollo to the moon had happened on July 20th of that year, I'm sure it was another Apollo. The TV camera downrange got locked on the rocket and followed it up for a long time, the longest I ever remember seeing. It was an awesome sight. I can remember thinking that I really wanted to see a launch someday, but that it was probably never going to happen. In checking the internet for history, I had difficulty finding a launch that matches with my memory. Apollo 12 launched on November 14. I thought I was doing this traveling in late October or early November. Maybe I'll figure it out someday.
At Brooke Army Hospital I was scheduled for surgery a few days after I arrived. I remember telling my family to not come down. I know that Charolette and I could not have afforded a motel for her to stay in for a couple weeks. At this point in our lives, we had absolutely no savings other than a couple hundred dollars. Charolette was also working at Montgomery Wards in Bartlesville.
I had the surgery very early one morning. I believe it was called a right anterolateral thoracotomy, with scarification of pleura and oversewing and resection of blebs. I had a nine inch cut on my right side between two ribs, from my armpit to the end of the ribs. One rib was moved on top of another and they used self-dissolving surgerical thread to tie it in place on top of the other rib. This gave the surgeons room to fix up my lung which had now collapsed five times (only two of which the Army knew about). I had one collapse in college during spring break of my senior year. I didn't know what it was, but the inside of my chest felt like it was burning. It went away after a few days. When it happened again, I went to the OSU infirmary. An xray showed that I had a minor lung collapse. It was not serious, so the doctors just let it fix itself. The next time I was stationed at Fort Sill. It was more serious and I had to have surgery to insert tubes to suck out the air that was leaking out of my lungs until the leak healed itself. I was told that if it happened again, I would be given surgery to correct the problem. That's what happened at Brooke.
The surgery lasted four or five hours. I can vaguely remember getting a telephone call from Charolette and my Dad while I was in the recovery room. I started throwing up while Dad was on the phone. I spent about three days with two tubes coming out of my chest hooked to a machine to suck out the air that was leaking from my lungs. I spent about 10 days altogether in the hospital after my surgery. Then I was released on 30 days convalescent leave to go visit Charolette in Bartlesville. The Army bought me airline tickets. I flew from San Antonio to Austin to Dallas to Oklahoma City to Tulsa. I'm pretty sure I changed planes once, but I'm not sure where. I got served a Coke on every leg, which I thought was great. I was a real Coke fanatic back then.
At Brooke, I was in a surgery ward. It was a big room with about 25 beds, most of which were empty, but other patients came and went. I spent a lot of time before my operation with a sargeant who was waiting for throat surgery. We went together to the cafeteria to eat. We talked a lot. The night before my surgery, I read a whole book, M*A*S*H. I thought it was hilarous.
I came back to Brooke on January 1, 1970 (30 days after I left). I know I changed planes at Love Field which was the major Dallas airport back then. As we took off, I could look down and see the players on the field for the Cotton Bowl. That's the only bowl game I've ever seen in person.
I had to spend a few days at Brooke while the Army arranged for my next assignment. I rented a car and went to downtown San Antonio to see the Alamo and the zoo.
I got assigned to the U.S. Army Field Artillery Board at Fort Sill. I went back to Bartlesville to get Charolette and go to Fort Sill to look for a house to rent.
At the Cam Ranh Bay hospital, I had a tube inserted to remove the air leaking from my lung. I spent at least a week there, maybe more. I was sent by a medical flight from Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam Camp Zama Army Hospital in Japan. Since it was a short flight, I was designated as ambulatory and I got to sit in a regular seat instead of riding on a stretcher. I got asked by a doctor at Camp Zama what I always considered the most stupid question I had ever heard, "Did I want to get my lung repaired in Japan and go back to Vietnam, or did I want to go to the States to get my lung fixed?" I chose the States. I can remember getting a haircut at the PX barbershop at the hospital. It was the first time I had ever gotten a haircut from a woman (Japanese woman even). After about three days in Camp Zama, I was sent on a medical flight to Travis Air Force Base in California. While I was at Camp Zama, I bought my first 35mm camera. I think it was a Yashica. I used it until I got a new camera for Christmas in 1984 (a Pentax Super Program which was a gift from Charolette, JJ, and Jeff).
On the way to Travis I was not considered ambulatory, so I was on a stretcher. They were concerned that my lung might collapse again. The stretchers were stacked three high in four rows at the back of the plane. We had several Air Force Nurses checking on us during our flight which took about 10 hours. I was wearing hospital pajamas and a robe. As we prepared for takeoff at Yokota Air Force Base, Japan, we heard a loud bang and the plane, which was taxiing, lurched. One of the tires on the plane had a blowout. The plane stopped right there while the tire was changed. Most of us stood around on the taxiway and talked while we waited. The rest of our trip was mostly uneventful. I remember getting to brush my teeth using a small sponge on a stick that had toothpaste built into it. It was meant to be used without water. It was much better than nothing.
Anyway, Travis was just a stopover point as I was enroute to Brooke General Hospital at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. I don't think I even spent a whole 24 hours at Travis. I played cards with a lady volunteer who was one of many volunteers that greeted and talked with all the evacuees arriving from Vietnam. I do remember arriving early in the morning and getting to watch a space launch. Since the first Apollo to the moon had happened on July 20th of that year, I'm sure it was another Apollo. The TV camera downrange got locked on the rocket and followed it up for a long time, the longest I ever remember seeing. It was an awesome sight. I can remember thinking that I really wanted to see a launch someday, but that it was probably never going to happen. In checking the internet for history, I had difficulty finding a launch that matches with my memory. Apollo 12 launched on November 14. I thought I was doing this traveling in late October or early November. Maybe I'll figure it out someday.
At Brooke Army Hospital I was scheduled for surgery a few days after I arrived. I remember telling my family to not come down. I know that Charolette and I could not have afforded a motel for her to stay in for a couple weeks. At this point in our lives, we had absolutely no savings other than a couple hundred dollars. Charolette was also working at Montgomery Wards in Bartlesville.
I had the surgery very early one morning. I believe it was called a right anterolateral thoracotomy, with scarification of pleura and oversewing and resection of blebs. I had a nine inch cut on my right side between two ribs, from my armpit to the end of the ribs. One rib was moved on top of another and they used self-dissolving surgerical thread to tie it in place on top of the other rib. This gave the surgeons room to fix up my lung which had now collapsed five times (only two of which the Army knew about). I had one collapse in college during spring break of my senior year. I didn't know what it was, but the inside of my chest felt like it was burning. It went away after a few days. When it happened again, I went to the OSU infirmary. An xray showed that I had a minor lung collapse. It was not serious, so the doctors just let it fix itself. The next time I was stationed at Fort Sill. It was more serious and I had to have surgery to insert tubes to suck out the air that was leaking out of my lungs until the leak healed itself. I was told that if it happened again, I would be given surgery to correct the problem. That's what happened at Brooke.
The surgery lasted four or five hours. I can vaguely remember getting a telephone call from Charolette and my Dad while I was in the recovery room. I started throwing up while Dad was on the phone. I spent about three days with two tubes coming out of my chest hooked to a machine to suck out the air that was leaking from my lungs. I spent about 10 days altogether in the hospital after my surgery. Then I was released on 30 days convalescent leave to go visit Charolette in Bartlesville. The Army bought me airline tickets. I flew from San Antonio to Austin to Dallas to Oklahoma City to Tulsa. I'm pretty sure I changed planes once, but I'm not sure where. I got served a Coke on every leg, which I thought was great. I was a real Coke fanatic back then.
At Brooke, I was in a surgery ward. It was a big room with about 25 beds, most of which were empty, but other patients came and went. I spent a lot of time before my operation with a sargeant who was waiting for throat surgery. We went together to the cafeteria to eat. We talked a lot. The night before my surgery, I read a whole book, M*A*S*H. I thought it was hilarous.
I came back to Brooke on January 1, 1970 (30 days after I left). I know I changed planes at Love Field which was the major Dallas airport back then. As we took off, I could look down and see the players on the field for the Cotton Bowl. That's the only bowl game I've ever seen in person.
I had to spend a few days at Brooke while the Army arranged for my next assignment. I rented a car and went to downtown San Antonio to see the Alamo and the zoo.
I got assigned to the U.S. Army Field Artillery Board at Fort Sill. I went back to Bartlesville to get Charolette and go to Fort Sill to look for a house to rent.
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