Hey, I'm a 6ft very active guy who went to the ER with sharp back and shoulder pain. Turns out it was a complete collapse of my left lung. I went rollerskating the day before and fell a few times trying some tricks (I had full padding and protection) and they thing some blunt trauma could have caused this.

They chucked a chest tube in on suction for a day where it reinflated, they clamped it and it started deflating again so I was put back on suction for another 2 days where the air bubbles were pretty constant with every exhale. Then they moved me onto 'water seal' for 2 days and the bubbles STOPPED completely unless I farted/Shit (lol) tensed my core or moved forward. After a scan it turns out the lung was deflating again. Today I am back to square one on suction.

I just feel a little hopeless at the moment, they did a CT with my insertion and didn't see any Blebs so they assume it must have been an injury / tear / hole that is letting the air leak.

When the MD came in today and put me back on suction I just felt hopeless, I'm REALLY scared of having to go to surgery as I am a semi professional track athlete who relies on his running to fund/sustain myself in life.

Is 5 days on the shorter side of things, are there things I should be looking out for? How long were you in with a chest tube?

Sorry about this, I just feel so hopeless.