MODESTO– “I thought it was a heart attack,” Nathaniel describes. On the night of March 14th, 2024, Nathaniel Ngo, a fellow Lincolnian staff writer, experienced severe chest pains.  After the hospital ran some tests on him, they discovered that he had a pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung.  His left lung had popped and air was trapped inside his chest. 

Ngo stayed at the Kaiser Permanente Modesto Medical Center and Medical Offices in Modesto, CA. “My hospital visit was scary, but the nurses were very accommodating,” he says.  “I had a giant tube sticking out of my left side which made it a little hard to walk.”  A chest tube was inserted to inflate and deflate his lung, allowing air to be removed.  Before this, doctors performed surgery to remove the weak part of his lung.  “The pain was a 10/10,” he adds. “They had to turn on suction for the tube and it hurt the whole time.  I couldn’t take a breath because it felt like my breath was being sucked out.  I felt like I was punched in the lung.”  After the surgery, he remained in the hospital for a week until he was stable enough to be discharged.

Unfortunately, no official cause was discovered as to why his lung suddenly collapsed.  They said that it was likely due to him being skinny or inheriting it from family history.

Ngo had to follow some strict rules after being discharged.  He couldn’t lift more than 10 pounds for two weeks, he couldn’t shower for a week to prevent the wound from getting infected, he had to limit his physical activity, and he couldn’t ride a plane for 6 weeks because high altitudes posed a risk.  Consequently, he was unable to visit his grandmother who lives in Missouri for spring break.

Fast-forward to now, he is doing much better.

“I am amazing. I can take deep breaths and it feels really nice to take deep breaths. I can smell again, for some reason I couldn’t smell anything with my lung and the tube in my chest. I can finally bend over.”