Dunno why I never thought to ask you this, but here it goes.

I had pneumonia almost a year ago now. It was in both lungs, but my left worse that the right. I had no insurance, and went to the ER at first, because basically by the time I went, I was too sick to fight anybody about not being able to afford the bill, ect. I did however manage to talk the ER docs into letting me go home with a shot and a round of Levaquin despite their advising that I really need IV abx. But, I was still having fever and shortness of breath after several days, so I found a clinic to work with me and after several rocephin shots and some more oral meds, as well as neb. treatments, I finally got better. But, I did end up with a major amount of pleural pain. I had finally started feeling better, but it woke me up suddenly one night...and lasted for another two weeks. Sharp pain, squeaky rubbing when I would breath. Ugh. Looking back, I should've just let them put me in.

But, a year later, I still actually have pain in that area, where the pluerisy sp? was. If I lay a certain way on that side, or hiccup or even take a deep breath sometimes, I still get that sharp pain in that area. What's the deal with that? I probably would've went to the doc a long time ago to get it checked out, but dh's income went up just enough that we don't qualify for sliding scale anymore...but stilll not enough for me to afford to go to the doc.

Any ideas? Really, if I think about it, I've not been the same since the pneumonia. I just never totally bounced back, not even a year later. Is that typical?

Melissa, there may possibly be some scar tissue left by the pneumonia and pleurisy from a year ago. A chest x-ray would confirm or rule that out. Just mention it to the doc the next time you are in for something.