I had this about 15 years ago. It took the doctors over 8 months to pin point exactly what I had. I couldn't believe it. I figured this day in age they could take a blood sample and tell me what I had for breakfast the day before...nope. I was stuck with needles for blood, gave urine samples, had numerous CT scans with dye, and visited 3 different specialist doctors. They ended 3 doing tissue sample from about 5 to 6 inches below my Adam's apple. Later they did an endoscopy. Went back again later and I think the procedure was called a thoroscopy (that is probably completely wrong...its just what pips into my brain at the moment) they made 3 incisions on my right lung and removed a section of it and a I had a chest tube. After that I was put on Sporanox for a while. It seems maybe a year, but I'm guessing at this point. It was truly a horrible experience. I had just gotten married, found out we were pregnant, now the doctors think I might have cancer and didn't know what was going on, taking off work and driving to different cities to see different doctors, the surgeries, being told I can no longer preform the work I had been doing the last 5 years (residential HVAC), beginning off work for about a year, and then the side effects of all of the different meds. I remember the Sporanox really messed with me, the doctors gave me a lot of really high powered pain meds fr6the different operations, so I became really dependent on them for a really long time (that all in it's own was nightmare of a process to get over). I live in Kentucky and did residential HVAC, I was the skinniest guy in the company so I could fit into a lot of the harder to get to places. There was times I would either come out of an attic or from under a house, I would blow my nose and you could see some of the crap I was breathing in. I know that is how I got it. I also had a second job in the evening that would sometimes go until 1 AM, so I'd only get a couple hours of rest. I think working so much and resting very little just made the problem that much worse. I really feel for anyone that has to go through that same process. Just keep your head up, you will make it through!
I had disseminated Histo 12 yrs ago and still feel sick. This is a horrible infection! Wear gloves if you garden! You can catch it again! I was wow I won the lottery-just the wrong kind. I wish you the best and anyone who share their stories I see all of us can help each other!
I have disseminated histo. I have for 13 maybe years. It goes in and out of remission. I have 0 immune conprimisation. I never have had an immune issue. I was left misdiagnosed for 2 years by multiple Dr's including mayo in MN but that's a long story. In fact my CT showed me healed but I kept pussing out of a hole in my neck, from my chest it turned out for 2 years BTW, that would open and close so a resident at mayo mn finally had me tested at mayo and I begged them to go in and explore as well, which they did not want to do. Well I woke up with my chest sawed in 2 and that wasn't really the plan of that surgery. They had to remove several lymph nodes they said I was drying and the couldn't remove it all there was so much. They did the biopsy and it showed nothing. They said that was normal as it was hard to grow and took a long time to grow. The only test they gave me that registered the histo was and is to this day the mayo test. All other tests show me histo free but the med for it has so far to date helped me when I've needed it. So not everyone is going to follow or present in the way u r describing. Nor r the tests even full proof. I'm proof of that. It's in my liver, spleen, lung, lymph as I understood it from the scans. I'm lucky to be here. I did work in horse barns and still have my horses so am often in a horse barn so I probably was exposed in either Illinois or Iowa. Now I live in Florida but do still spend time in Illinois.
So I have a question, Normal at birth --> immunocompromised--> lives by the Mississippi - Ohio - Missouri river--> contracted with Histoplasma capsulatum --> fungi found in soil contaminated by feces from birds and bats --> soil disturbed -->spores enter lower respiratory tract --> phagocytosed and converted to yeast within macrophages --> taken up to the lymph node kept in check or eradicated but if immunocompromised -> forms cavitary lung disease in the upper lobe, if severely immunocompromised then it gets disseminated--> more propensity to reticuloendothelial cells --> calcified lymph node and clinical sample shows small intracellular yeasts in macrophages. does this pathophysio chronology fit in this way as described for this infection??
I was and have never been imunocompromised and I have disseminated histo. Also only one test works on me and it's mayos test and the biopsy didn't grow one thing. So I wouldn't say this is considering all cases even though it's a great discription.
@@itsbevinallison Oh ok thank you..And sorry I didn't mean to offend you or anyone who was not immunocompromised and was contracted with this agent, I was just trying to figure out the pathophysio pathway of how the organism invest into our system.
I'm not at all offended. There's alot of inacuate info about histo that floats around. I run the histoplasmosis support group on fb. It's the largest and longest running site like it so I'm very familiar with misunderstandings. U may be able, or not I don't know what everyone may know, to find ur answers on it actually. If u join just answer all the questions or I can't let u in. 😉
I have it in two places in my right lung that is killing lung tissue. I could not tolerate the meds so I’m waiting for surgery to have it removed. I’m also in remission from lung cancer
Hi Yeonhoo - sorry about the noise. I did get a new microphone shortly after this so hopefully that fixed it. I'll re-record this one. Thanks for the feedback
