Despite having a tough time catching his breath and serious chest pain, Michael Carmean arrived for his shift as a cook at Three Mile Cafe on time Tuesday, April 1. But he was soon struggling, the pain excruciating, the fight for air growing desperate.
“To the hospital, now!” his supervisor ordered, even as Michael was struggling to explain. He called his wife, Teresa,
Both were shocked when he was admitted almost as soon as the results of the first tests came in. Pneumothorax … a collapsed lung. It’s caused by air escaping the lung and entering the chest cavity, creating a counterpressure that keeps the sponge-like lung from inflating.
Most collapsed lungs are caused by severe trauma, something penetrating the chest cavity, a bullet, a rib broken and punched back into the lung. But on occasion the pneumothorax occurs with no apparent cause … a spontaneous pneumothorax.
The treatment is typically a chest tube to vent the collection of gases that comprise the air we breathe. In Michael’s case, two chest tubes were emplaced, to no avail.
On April 4, Michael was taken by ambulance to Kootenai Health, his one of the rare cases that may require surgery to resolve.
A chef for most of his life working at restaurants nationwide, he moved to Bonners Ferry with his family from Amarillo, Texas, in 2001. He and Teresa married in 2020 and his greatest joys are providing for and spending time with his beloved family.
Neither he nor Teresa have insurance and the time away from his gang at Three Mile Cafe combined with rapidly mounting medical bills have put the family in a precarious financial situation. The “Support Michael Carmean’s Lung Surgery” GoFundMe account has been established and Michael and his family are grateful for the prayers and support of the community.
Those who would prefer to mail donations, payable to Michael or Teresa Carmean, can mail them to Michael Carmean, c/o 9B.News, 6619 Kaniksu St. Rm 19, Bonners Ferry, ID, 83805.