College student’s lung diary goes viral

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Jan 28, 2010 (1 Reader comment)

Jaime Valdez / Times Newspapers

Nathan Schmitt films a new blog to add to his series about his upcoming Feb. 2 lung surgery.

Nathan Schmitt is shedding light on the realities of facing and recovering from a major surgery one video blog at a time.

The 22-year-old University of Oregon student suffers from a condition known as recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax, where his left lung collapses for unknown reasons.

Next week Schmitt will undergo a procedure where surgeons will make a five-inch incision on the left side of his upper back between his ribs, cut through a rib and open him up to remove the lining of his left lung with the hope that his lung will stick to the inside of the chest wall, preventing future collapses.

Prior to his Feb. 2 surgery, he has kept busy chronicling his journey on his online blog at www.brainchocolateblog.com and www.brainchocolate.org. Schmitt will continue to document his recovery in the coming months as he fights to heal, regain his strength and return to his studies and active lifestyle.

“I’ve had lung surgery before and I know how scary it is not to know what to expect post-op,” said Schmitt, who grew up in Beaverton and now lives in Lake Oswego. “Doctors and surgeons do what they can, but just don’t have time to be on-call for the smaller day-to-day things that make recovery so hard.”

In preparation for the surgery, Schmitt has spent the past few weeks searching for all the information he could find about the thoracotomy/pleurectomy procedure from the clinical aspects to written accounts of those who have experienced the surgery.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit