Belching and Problems Breathing on left Side

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I am a 41 yr old woman who several yrs ago choked on some sort of bone or opeac plastic shaped like a half moon.  They never found it, it felt like it lodged near the thyroid.  Now, after 12 yrs they have found nodules on the outside area of the thyroid.  The bone had gone down into my chest prior to me manuevering back up into my throat where it lodged.  Since then when I inhale and exhale I can get a full breath on the right but not on the left.  When I am trying to exercise the left side cannot keep up with the right and I cannot get control of the breathing.  I just don't know if it is my heart, my left lung, the area that the stomach and left bronchial meet or what.  I believe scar tissue may have built up somewhere.  What tests would tell me what it is?  Any help would be appreciated.
Claudette

[Forum-M.D.-MJM]

Hi Claudette,
The way I would handle this in clinic would be to talk to you about your symptoms and look at a 12 lead EKG.  If there is anything that is concerning, I would probably order an echocardiogram or a stress echocardiogram if I could not exclude a cardiac cause.  I don't have a  good feel for whats going on from what you described above but you aren't using a lot of the descriptive buzz words that suggest a cardiac cause.
I hope this helps.  Thanks for posting.

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Wow!  I can hardly believe how quickly you responded.  Thank you, to me, from what it seems like I'm feeling is that possibly the bronchial tube leading to the left lung and where I choked on the foreign body, scratched up the area as I brought it back up out of my chest.  I almost died that day many yrs ago.  Thank goodness I lived in a home that had an abnormally high kitchen counter.  I somehow heimleched myself and as it freed up I felt it stab me in my neck.  Went to emer. they did x-ray & didn't see anything.  Then for the next 10 yrs, I've had frequent lung infections that have become less frequent over the years.  It wasn't until about a yr ago they finally found nodules at the site I'd been begging them to look at.  I've had two ultrasounds and they confirm one large nodule and three tiny ones on the outside of my thyroid where I had been urging them the foreign body had lodged yrs earlier.  I believe the foreign body is encapsulated now with scar tissue in that area & in my chest is scar tissue resulting from the scratching as the sharp edges hit me internally as I brought the foreign body back up.  My fear has been that w/the frequent infections my heart muscle may be affected or the aortic valve may have been hurt.  After all I've been through with this, I'm just grateful to be alive as a single mother to raise my child.  But it is very frustrating to start out as a quite athletic person, a runner, to and overweight, breathing-troubled person.  I only wish my left lung could keep up with the right one upon exhursion.  I had a heart catheterization & was told my arteries are very large & he wished his were as nice as mine; for that I'm grateful.  I'm grateful every day just to be alive to raise my son.  The day I choked I was alone, my son in his high chair.  I couldn't breath and all I could think of was how I'd be dead, rotting for 2wks at least and they would find us both;  I am just sooo grateful and for your quick response.
Have a great day!