thank you so much for weighing in. this is exactly what i was hoping for, with respect to the clarification, and also the reassurance of the rare result in pneumothorax (i'd just told my husband about an hour before i posted this that that was the term for what the doctor had warned about, and that the doctor was most likely warning in the event of a worst case scenario, rather than something to expect and count on).

i mean, your news here is terrible, but it at least provides clarity, and likewise reinforces what i'd gleaned from my brief research, and expect to hear from the specialist.

i have a feeling the pulmo is going to diagnose emphysema, and that "bullous emphysema" is the 'long word' the doctor said to my husband before jumping into the explanation in layman's terms. (apparently doc rattled something off and then said, 'but you won't know what that is, so let me explain,' and my husband never caught the phrase nor asked him about it after the fact, because he was in shock. i wish i'd been there.)

what you say isn't good news, but i suspect he can deal with that news, emotionally, far better than what he's currently thinking, which is that he has what amounts to a grenade in his chest that is going to take him out at any moment.

thank you for your comment.

for the record, i am hard pressed to buy that my husband has alpha1 (and again, i don't know what difference it would make if he did, given that we aren't reproducing).

i think the doctor suggested it because he wasn't measuring my husband's smoking in 'pack years', and if not measured in pack years, then yes, this damage would seem excessive.