r-lung-when-this-is-over type cough. It was so violent—as violent as I had ever experienced. After a series of coughs, my upper torso started to hurt. It was pretty bad, but I thought it would pass, and I went back to doing miscellaneous stuff around the house. I went to my room, and started to lay down on my bed, and it was really, really uncomfortable, so I decided to just walk around some more, until the discomfort passed.

Unfortunately for me, it didn’t pass, and about an hour or so after I felt something was wrong, things really weren’t right. I went downstairs to drink some Chinese tea that my grandma made for me, and I had to sit down at the kitchen table to catch my breath. I knew something was very, very wrong at that point. When I was able to catch my breath, I went to my grandparents’ room and told my grandma that I thought there was something seriously wrong with me—it hurt to breathe and I would lose my breath too easily, and my neck was so swollen that it hurt to just turn my head. She suggested that we should go to the hospital. I said that I didn’t know if it was serious enough, but we may as well go.

We got to the ER at approximately 5:45 PM. Fortunately, there was nobody in front of me in line, and I was allowed in almost instantaneously. The doctor there came in a little while later, took a look at me, and said that I had asthmatic symptoms, and it was probably an upper respiratory infection. She said to take x-rays just in case she was wrong, so they sent me down the hall to take a set of x-rays. I had to walk the whole way, and I was completely winded when I got there. I made it back to my room afterwards with a lot of pain. They gave me a breathing treatment—a mask with some medicine to open up my wind path.

The doctor came back in and told me that the x-rays found a hole in my lung and caused my lung to partially collapse. It also caused a leak, and air got trapped inside my body, around my shoulders and my neck. She said that she hadn’t seen anything like that before. She said that they would have to keep me in the hospital at least overnight. They gave me a couple more breathing treatments, and found a bed for my upstairs in IMCU.

Basically the diagnosis was a sporadic pneumothorax. Apparently, it is common among skinny guys around 18-25, and also among Cantonese guys. So, I apparently fit the description perfectly—which sucks

I was there from Sunday til today (Friday). I was breathing pure oxygen from a mask the whole time between Monday and Thursday, and I was pumped with steroids everyday. The hole in the lung healed up, and most of the air pockets in my body have subsided. I was discharged today at about 6 PM. I feel great—as good as I’ve felt in a long time.


This was my first time having to spend a night in a hospital. It was some pretty scary stuff. I didn’t know what to think on Sunday. God was with me, and so was the encouragement of a whole lot of people who mean a lot to me.

Thank you, everyone for your prayers. I couldn’t have done without them. For all those who came to visit or call me, your time with me was really appreciated. I’ll be taking it easy for a little while, not wanting to have a relapse or anything. Thanks for everything, you guys.