hurting065

[Hurting065]

My husband had a colon resection in Sept. 06.  Puff test and x-ray confirmed paralyed diaphram. A chest x-ray when admitted to hospital did not show this but x-ray when discharged did show this.
Nothing has been done for him except to use nembulizer and take Advair.  He has severe chest pain when lying down (usually starts in early evening).  Has anyone had anything similar?  If so, was anything done about it.  He also is short of breath and has little energy.  It really hurts me to see him in pain when before the surgery he was walking, eating right and energetic.  He had a heart attack in April and has recovered from that.  No surgery or stint as part of his heart muscle is no longer useful and new growth of veins on outside of heart are compensating for blockage.  Heart specialist said he is doing very well and does not need to see him for a year.  He also stated that the chest pain is not related to his heart.  Pulmonologist stated from broncoscopy that there was no damage to vocal cords (his voice goes in and out) or lesions that could be causing chest pain.

[john34134]

I have a paralyzed left diaphragm.    I treated with local doctors and then decided to go to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.   It was a good move.

[Sunny602]

I have heard of people suffering from a paralyzed diaphragm after surgery...from nerve damage that feeds the diaphragm. I have bilateral dipaphragmatic problems from muscle issues, not nerve damage which is what your husband suffered.
I am sorry that he is so short of breath, unfortunately this can happen with unilateral paralysis. How are his lung functions? (PFT's) If his volumes are low that could explain his voice going in and out. Just reaching though...I am most certainly not an expert or doctor, but live through the problems with diaphragmatic weakness/paralysis.
One thing that they can do if the symptoms are severe is what is called diaphragmatic plication where the surgeon essentially tacks down the affected side so that it cannot move up into the lung cavity with each breath. Normally, when you take a breath, the diaphragm moves downward. When it is paralyzed, the affected side(s) move upwards which can make you breathless as it takes up space in the lung cavity as you try to expand your chest. This is something the doctors will do as a last resort though.
I hope that this helps...Sunny