H1N1/COPD

[sparklem]

I am a 62 year old healthy female.  Seven weeks ago I visited my father in the hospital where there was an influx of patients being admitted for secondary infections following H1N1 like illnesses.  I came down very quickly almost overnight, with sore throat, fever, persistent cough and cold symptoms, that quickly went into my chest with tightness and shortness of breath. I was very sick...more so then any cold I've ever had, and I'm seldom ill,  so stayed home for two weeks as I believed I was contagious.  When i did not get better, I visited the clinic with obvious symptoms, and the dr told me it would run it's course, - to go home and continue to rest and isolate myself until all symptoms disappeared. Physicians were not swabbing everyone for H1N1 at that time.

Over the next two weeks  the head cold symptoms disappeared but my exhaustion, cough and fever continued, along with more respiratory symptoms and night sweats. I went back to the clinic and on listening to my chest was diagnosed with a 'secondary bacterial chest infection' (isn't that pneumonia, which i had in 15 yrs ago), given a five day course of Biaxin, and told I was contagious and to continue bed rest.  Two days after I finished the Biaxin, my symptoms returned...so another Clinic Dr listened to the wheezing and crackles, gave me 7 days of Avalox, and two puffers, one a 1x a day steroid, and the other up to 8 x a day, and scheduled a chest xray.  

The chest xray results today said, ' lungs are hyperinflated consistent with underlying COPD!  No active airspace abnormality. Pleural spaces are clear.'  

The Dr was surprised at COPD because I don't smoke, although use medical cannabis sparingly for chronic back pain. He ordered blood work to rule out infection or cancer, and check my liver function, and said depending on those tests i should have breathing tests done and further studies to see whats going on in my lungs. My cough and fever are gone though the night sweats, shortness of breath, crackling lungs, and light chest pain remain.

I have heard that H1N1 is causing some weird lung infections.  They will not test my antibodies, so should I assume my COPD is related in some way?   How serious is COPD? Could the radiologist be mistaken and this is a temporary condition, since the lung symptoms appeared so rapidly?  Do I still have pneumonia?  Am I still contagious?  Could I still have a virus? (they said it was too late for Tamiflu).   Should I have the H1N1 flu shot if I've had H1N1 or will I have immunity now?  

Thank you so much for the answers provided in this forum.  They are more helpful than my walk in clinic physicians have been. (There have been no new dr's accepting patients here for more than a year!)