37 year old woman had a cough for 7 years and no disease was detected. I thought it was lung cancer. I visited many doctors before finding out the cause of something small but causing long term suffering.
A woman named Liu, 37, from Beijing, China, shed tears of surprise. I see with my own eyes the reason for her persistent cough for 7 years
“I am happy that I do not have lung cancer. But I was also shocked to learn that a foreign body as small as a fingertip could cause me such suffering for so long. I was also angry that it took so many doctors to figure it out.”
Ms. Liu started to have a mild but persistent cough in early autumn in her 30s, which she thought was due to the climate change. Because she was very busy, after a few months of self-treatment, she went to the doctor. The local hospital indicated that Ms. Liu had no serious problems and prescribed medicine for her. However, after taking the medicine for a long time, the symptoms improved. However, when she stopped taking the medicine, it came back again.
When she thought her lungs were having problems, she went to private clinics and hospitals for continuous treatment. “I always thought I had a problem with my lungs. But the results repeatedly showed that my lungs were healthy. I have been treated for bronchitis, asthma and other diseases for a long time in many places. But the coughing did not stop. It made me feel depressed. Until I accepted that I had a rare disease and had to learn to live with it,” Ms. Liu said.
When Ms. Liu was 37 years old, she got wet in the rain and caught a cold, causing her to have a high fever and cough. Her family advised her to take the opportunity to have her lungs re-examined and healed. As medicine has become more advanced, fortunately her visit to the Central Respiratory Hospital helped her find out the truth.
Dr. Mu Xiangdong, Liu's family physician, said the patient herself did not have very high expectations for the examination. She thought she had lung cancer and had been mentally preparing for the worst-case scenario for a long time.
Upon examination and comparison of the CT scan results we found evidence of a small shadow in the right trachea. It initially stuck in the trachea and then traveled down to the beginning of the trachea. Endoscopy revealed a suspected foreign body and surgery was performed.
When many foreign bodies were removed, it was discovered that they were just a small piece of chili pepper, 1.2 cm long, but they caused problems for patients for 7 years, partly because of the difficulty in finding their location and size. When the cause is not found many times, this makes patients feel frustrated and unwilling to receive treatment anymore.
Doctor warns against laughing and moving frequently while eating and drinking
Ms. Liu said that about seven years ago, she choked when she ate hot peppers that were too spicy. But after drinking a lot of water and eating large pieces of food, the discomfort gradually disappeared, so she didn't care much. I didn't expect it to have such a big effect.
Dr. Mo explains that our chest actually contains two important tubes, one of which is the esophagus. The other tube is the trachea to move air in and out. Normally, our body has a magical defense mechanism that allows us to keep the trachea open when breathing and talking. And the esophagus when eating to avoid going in the wrong direction.
But in some cases, food can actually disappear, especially if you eat or drink while laughing, coughing, or choking, or in people who have poor swallowing ability, such as infants, young children, and the elderly.
When a foreign body enters the trachea through the vocal cords, it causes severe choking and coughing. If the foreign body is larger and stuck in the vocal cords and trachea, airway obstruction will occur and the risk of death will be higher.
For small foreign bodies, large respiratory airflows move quickly down the bronchi. This is because the right main bronchus is very steep and thick. Foreign bodies can easily fall here. Just like what happened to Mr. Liu.
He added that in Liu's case, years of foreign body irritation and secondary inflammation lead to inflamed skin tags that gradually become covered with foreign material. Symptoms of worsening cough and yellow sputum often occur with the infection. In some patients, the respiratory system responds very quickly. This makes it easy to misdiagnose the disease as bronchial asthma.
He also warned of the need to focus and be more careful when eating and drinking to avoid swallowing foreign objects, but if this happens, one must go to the hospital for early examination and treatment.
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