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Heatho

Heatho

Joined
Apr 29, 2013
Messages
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Location
Central Coast NSW
Hey everyone, been in hospital since Saturday with a 7cm x 5cm x 4cm abcess on my Left lung, it's been there a while and the infectious diseases expert at Royal North Shore Hospital was quite interested after I told him about the dust inhaled while out fossicking sometimes using the dry shakers for sieves. Anyway play it safe people and wear a mask if in situations where a lot of dust is present. Don't think it can't happen to you because it can and does. I'm on 3 antibiotics including intravenous ones and will be for the next 6 weeks most likely and they still can't isolate the bacteria causing it.

Hopefully tomorrow I may have more answers but not likely, they said they rarely isolate a pathogen in cases like this and is very difficult to. I'll live but it was pretty shaky on Saturday, though I'm starting to feel better there is a long way to go before I'll be back to 100%.

Symptoms were a rash, night sweats, fever, bad cough, insomnia and lethargy, smokers especially beware. Only positive out of this is I'm now a non smoker and a very lucky one at that. Will hopefully be home in a few days but with badly damaged lungs. 30 years of smoking didn't help but did not cause all the damage this bug did.

Anyway quality masks will now be part of my kit. Please keep and think safe while out thee, you don't want your hobby to kill you.
 
Bloody nasty stuff Heatho.....Im glad your on the mend mate.

Good advice about the masks for shakers, sieves, dry-blowers etc.

At least being propped up in bed with the laptop/tablet is keeping your eyes off those cute nurses.

All the best and get well soon man ;)
 
Wow Heatho that's pretty scary mate, glad your in good hands and on the mend. Theres some nasty stuff in the soil, our family cat had to be put down recently due to a rare fungus that took over his brain/skull - picked up from the soil apparently.

Now's a good time to piss the cigarettes off for good. Stick with it, take it on as a challenge reward yourself daily by knowing that you could beat the need for a smoke and it will get easier and easier.
Hope you start to feel better and i look forward to catching up for a swing when you're up for it.
Take it easy
 
Thanks fellas means a lot, will keep you all informed as this is very relevant to the hobby abg our health, if I xan pevent 1 other person suffering like this it's worth talking about.
 
mbasko said:
:eek: Wow Heatho - hope your back swinging soon mate. Bloody hell - would that explain your illness after Sunny Corner a bit?
Click to expand...
Yeah sure does Matt, that was the day it sort of started becoming noticeable, pretty insidious infection.
 
Reeks said:
Wow Heatho that's pretty scary mate, glad your in good hands and on the mend. Theres some nasty stuff in the soil, our family cat had to be put down recently due to a rare fungus that took over his brain/skull - picked up from the soil apparently.

Now's a good time to piss the cigarettes off for good. Stick with it, take it on as a challenge reward yourself daily by knowing that you could beat the need for a smoke and it will get easier and easier.
Hope you start to feel better and i look forward to catching up for a swing when you're up for it.
Take it easy
Click to expand...

I'm off them mate, making me crook even thinking about smoking now. Will call you in a couple of days, interesting about your poor Cat. You bet mate looking forward to the next session.

Cheers.
 
Well, Heatho,... not the best news about your health, but,... on the bright side, being a non smoker now(like me) will effect a much better out come for you in the long run with regards your ability to run, jump, sieve, pan, detect, breathe etc,.... hoping your recovery is swift and complete.

Cheers and Beers.
Silver.
 
Scary stuff when you think back to the days when wearing a dust mask on drill rigs was considered for softies, and all the crap we used to ingest (before any real OH&S regs). Best wishes for a speedy recovery, and back to prospecting soon rather than later. :)
 
Get well soon Heatho,
it only go'es to show that it's not just snskes, mine shafts rockfalls or mercury we have to keep an eye out for mate.
Thanks for the heads up and have a speedy recovery.
Cheers Steve :)
 
Best news is that you're on the mend mate and a non smoker now as well.
Thanks for sharing this. We all get pretty much relaxed about the dust we breath in the heat of the dig.
You're in good hands at the R.N.S
Wishing you a speedy recovery
Cheers
ChrisM
 
Thanks again everyone. GDA thanks mate but it's not a fungus definitely bacteria the way I'm responding to treatment I'm recovering pretty fast.

Chris, I sure am in good hands the staff here are excellent, top of their field of expertise.

Thing is smoking made me more susceptible to this and may not have affected a slightly healthier person but still may have, I don't think it's anything to be alarmed by but something to keep in mind and be wary of, keeping a couple of quality dust masks is a good idea though especially for dry blowing or dry sieving as you can eliminate the risk pretty easily.

The antibiotics they are treating me with are very broad spectrum but are mainly for Mycoplasma type infections. It may not be from prospecting but I can't shake the feeling that it is relevant to my predicament.
 
Use any breeze to your advantage and let it blow the dust away from you if you can... I do this spray painting outside.. I also use a large fan behind me if there is no breeze as well as a dust mask... get well soon mate... :)
 
Hope u get better soon Heatho, certainly a scare and thanks for the heads up, even highbanking and having water splash into the face and mouth can be a problem if the waters not clean. Things we don't normally think about until we run into trouble. Good on you for giving up the lung busters!
 

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