My TED Talk
After 2 days of non-stop uploading, I decided to try from a different approach and split my TED Talk into 2 different parts, which proved to be much more successful. Here they are!
Part 1:
Part 2:
Basically, my talk was about spontaneous pneumothoraxes, or collapsed lungs, and how it affected me and the steps that were taken to cure it. Enjoy!
June 19th, 2011 at 10:05 pm
Awesome job! It’s cool that you were able to turn what happened to you into an informative talk for the rest of us.
I was just wondering, how did you know that your lung collapsed?
Also, how did you deal with the mental aspect of it happening? I know that with my ankle, I’ve been really upset about not being able to do anything for the past couple months, as well as being told that I’m probably never going to be able to play sports unless I’m wearing my brace. Did it affect you at all?
Great job, and glad you’re better now!
June 19th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Thanks Chelsea! Like I said, my mom took me to the E.R. I was asked a whole bunch of questions which, now that I think about it (but can’t be sure
) relate to pneumothorax symptoms. This information told them what to be looking for when they took my X-ray, which confirmed that my lung had indeed collapsed.
Mentally, I was aware that swim season was only starting, and it was critical for me to be in shape in order to progress and improve physically and technically throughout the summer. However, because of the uncertainty of the first stage of surgery, I wasn’t given an official day as to when I could be back in shape-It was all relative to whether the tube would work, and how efficient it was. As it was, the tube did NOT work, so they hooked me up to the wall vacuum. By then, I gave myself another week in the hospital and a maximum of 3 besides, but alas, that ended up failing as well. Finally, I was taken for surgery, which was basically the “if this doesn’t work, you’re screwed” stage. Thankfully, it succeeded, and the surgeon gave me just over 3 weeks to recover, which is much better than I had hoped.
Finally having a set time on when I would recover really helped me cope. I understand that you may not ever know if you’re ankle will heal, and if so, how fast it will heal. In preparation for getting back in the pool, I’ve been going for long walks and lately, jogs to slowly rebuild my stamina and lactate tolerance, and stretches to rebuild my flexibility. I’ve also made up for my lack of swimming activity by doing some dryland drills relative to swimming (mock starts off a chair, freestyle strokes, etc.) so that the feel isn’t too alien come my first practice. Even if I didn’t have an exact date to be back training, I would’ve done some non-strenuous activities to keep my body up and running in anticipation for when I WOULD be back training.
Hope this helps, and thanks for the comment!
June 19th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
Hey Daniel,
No doubt, real-life experiences are so powerful. Being able to incorporate your personal walk-through and facts made your TED Talk solid. You were comfortable talking, and it didn’t seem like you were reading off anything! Telling us about your experience with a collapsed lung allowed me to gain a better understanding of what it is through a former patient’s eyes.
A recommendation I would make is that you could add in the images of your lungs from the CT Scan. That would make your TED Talk even stronger!
What reaction did you make knowing how serious your condition was?
Informative TED Talk!
June 19th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Okay, so I just want to make sure I understood that right, they cut of a piece of your lung and there’s titanium staples in your chest right now? Why would cutting of a piece of your lungs help keep your lungs inflated? And why can’t you ever go scuba diving? I know it has something to do with pressure but what would happen if you did? Would your lung re-collapse?
Also I liked how you didn’t use notes, it sounded really natural, like the people in TED talks.
June 19th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Hey Daniel, great job with your recovery and such
I actually really enjoyed your TED talk, having an insight into the depths of your chest cavity.
Knowing me for as long as you have, you probably know that I’ve never actually been injured badly enough to go to a hospital (and I’m thankful for, after hearing what its like)
I’m pretty curious though, what exactly happens in the lungs in the event of a collapse? (Physically, what change happens to have it deflate)
-Clay
June 19th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Steph: I, myself, can’t read a CT Scan, it’s a very confusing process. While it may make the presentation more interesting, I think it would be a waste of time to show it to an audience that wouldn’t understand it, as well as a hassle to get it off the CD. I was pushing the rules with my X-rays as is!
When I found out how bad the situation actually was, I kinda freaked, but at the same time, I’d been preparing myself for the worst. As is, it’s better for it to have happened now rather than right before regionals.
Louise: I’m not 100% sure why they cut the lung as well as stapled it, but either way, any lung past the staple would’ve been useless anyways. They cut the part of my lung that either had holes or the potential to have holes – 4 in total, each about 1 CM wide.
I’m not allowed to scuba dive because at roughly 32 ft if I’m not mistaken, the pressure would easily re-collapse my lung. While scuba diving, a large concentration of gases builds up that could easily kill me in such a state.
Clay: It’s rather hard to explain. Surrounding your lung is 2 layers of membrane, also known as the pleura. The outer layer of the pleura is also known as the chest wall, and is at the edge of your ribs. The inside layer is the outside of your lungs. Imagine an orange, with its outer skin and the white stuff which is basically one with the fruit itsself, with a layer of liquid in-between. Sorry for the bad analogy.
Your lung has negative pressure. Imagine an inflated balloon. People develop blisters on their lungs which are weaker than the healthy lung. If these blisters pop, air goes from inside the lung to outside, like air rushing out of a balloon. The air is contained within the chest wall and presses down on the lung, compressing it and not allowing it to fully expand. The lung will often eventually mend itsself on its own, but this leaves a 54% chance of recurrence within the next 2 years.This is where the one-way tube comes in (no pun intended, but welcome), releasing air from the chest cavity as the hole in the lung heals over.
June 19th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Hey Daniel, this is insanely awesome that you can talk about this for 10 minutes and know exactly what was going on with your lung plus keep it really interesting to listen to. My question is ( don’t know if you can answer this but I’ll ask anyways ) if lungs can collapse at any moment, can other organs collapse at any given time as well? Or is it just the respiratory system?
and I agree with louise about sounding really natural, overall, spiffy job!
-Immy
June 19th, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Hey Immy, thanks for the comment! As far as I know, other organs have not been known to collapse, however, stomachs have been known to digest themselves. As far as I know, however, your lungs are the only organ to be able to “collapse.” Just like Earth is just perfect for humans to live on, lungs are just perfect to collapse (in such a fashion.) Hope this provides a bit more insight!
June 21st, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Hey Daniel!
Also, I didn’t notice a script – did you wing it like you said you would? Either way, very natural and you know what you’re talking about!
Good job – cool that you can use stuff you already know (or learned anyway) to make your TED Talk
One question, though: how did it feel to have a collapsed lung? (Aside of hurting, I guess…) I like how you have a lot of pictures, and also the pun at the end
~Emily
June 21st, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Thanks Emily! To be honest, I didn’t really feel anything inside my chest (aside from the initial collapse and later on, when it re-inflated on wall suction). The pain was mostly on the surface, where it opened up to allow the tube into my chest.