Fact or Fiction: You Can Break Bones from Coughing. Answer: Fact! (Unfortunately!!)

So, as you know, my sinuses and I have been at war for far too long (since the middle of March). About 2 weeks ago I got a fourth sinus infection within a 2 month period. Being absolutely tired of antibiotics (not to mention fearful!) I opted for a natural route to get rid of it. Needless to say, I ended up getting it cleared up fairly well (or so I thought). Whilst enduring the last few sinus infections I developed a pain in my left chest.. around my heart/breast. At first I was worried because of the area, then I decided it was pulled muscles. The ENT had told me in mid April when I mentioned the pain that it was from coughing and that if I drank tons of water I would magically aspirate away the post nasal drip and my muscles would heal (Which clearly never happened!).
Since the last two sinus infections, my chest pain has been completely unbearable - to the point I can't sleep and deliberate for 20 minutes how I plan to sit up in bed. I eventually bit the bullet, suck it up and deal with the excruciating pain mostly because of time... I can only lay in bed for so long because even laying down hurts.

For over a week I have been trying to go to a hospital, any hospital that would take me. Thanks to my Korean co-teacher, I got hooked up with an English Hospital with doctors that went to school in the US that were fully bilingual. So finally my appointment arrived today and I was thrilled to finally get all this pain dealt with. She did the usual stethoscope routine, thought she detected something in my lungs and ordered 5.. yes 5 x rays on different parts of my chest and sinuses to make sure. She couldn't figure out by feeling what the tenderness was so she needed the x rays to look further. After my 5 x rays were complete and looked over, the results actually shocked me. I left Canada extremely healthy, no major issues other than the stuffy nose from time to time in the past. Now I can't breathe or move with out pain, but at least I have an answer. I have a lung infection called pleurisy where fluid fills the lining of the lungs where it shouldn't be. She detected it on the stethoscope and had further evidence with the x ray. The other surprise (which explains my excruciating pain in the morning) is actually a broken rib, and not just a fracture, a clear break! I saw it immediately on one of the x rays and apparently for the duration of time and the severity of my cough, its not entirely uncommon to break a rib. The other bad news is my sinuses have basically checked out for life and I will probably need surgery because they aren't draining properly. All of my sinus infections stem back to the first one that never cleared out correctly, leaving the bacteria in my sinuses to keep on attacking whenever any little bug got into my system. It also explains my continued post - nasal drip. As the sinuses try to drain, they slowly leak / drip into my throat, resulting in the continued cough. Lovely. So next time you have a cough or a pain in your chest, take it more seriously than I did and get to a doctor - ASAP. It was a hard lesson for me to learn so far away from home.

The end result of everything I ended up having to deal with issues a lot more serious than a sinus infection, and  I still ended up on antibiotics (more because I have a lung infection now too!). So yeah, I didn't plan on having a hospital visit in Korea, let alone a broken bone, lung and sinuses. I have to go back in a couple weeks for further x rays and checking into my deeper sinus issues (and surgery potential) so I will keep you all posted on that. Just wanted to share, mostly because I'm still in a little bit of shock that so much is wrong... crazy a simple cold can turn into this! :(

Cheers for Now!

Sarah