Lisa came through the procedure fine. The doctor saw a lot of blockage and drew me a simple sketch. The visible blockage was scar tissue rather than live tumor. The upper channel is completely blocked, and the lower one is very narrow, being "squeezed in" from outside the channel, possibly from tumor but probably from scar tissue or general lung collapse from radiation treatment. The diagram below reproduces what he sketched for me... the green line is of course the direction of the bronchoscopy tube, and the blue shows the blockage and narrowing he saw.
Despite the blockage, Lisa is getting plenty of air (blood oxygenation) and doesn't have trouble breathing, though it sometimes seems that way because she gets so winded combined with a high heart rate due to anemia and her body generally being run-down.
There was no evidence of infection, though they'll run cultures anyway. This likely means that Lisa will be able to re-start chemo treatment this coming week if her general health is good enough.
Despite the blockage, Lisa is getting plenty of air (blood oxygenation) and doesn't have trouble breathing, though it sometimes seems that way because she gets so winded combined with a high heart rate due to anemia and her body generally being run-down.
There was no evidence of infection, though they'll run cultures anyway. This likely means that Lisa will be able to re-start chemo treatment this coming week if her general health is good enough.