I am so thankful that I was able to find Dr. Huang during this pandemic. He may have literally saved my life by making the correct diagnosis and getting me off the wrong medications that was prescribed by other doctors.
In early February of 2020, I had an endoscopy done by a gastroenterologist, and about a week after, I started noticing some shortness of breath and also felt a swollen lymph node behind my ear.To make a long story short, fast forward to March of 2020, in the midst of the Covid pandemic,I had difficulty breathing and a fever which led me to believe that I may have had been infected with Covid19. Ultimately, after my lab test result tested negative for Covid but indicated Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, I went to see a pulmonologist at UCLA where an x-ray of my lungs were taken to rule out pneumonia. Although, the pulmonologist from UCLA did not listen to my lungs, he prescribed an antibiotic given the bacteria found in my nose, and asthma medication for breathing problems (even though I had tested negative for asthma couple of years ago by this same doctor) After my breathing condition did not improve, I reached out to a different pulmonologist in Glendale who provided telemedicine consults. The second doctor prescribed more asthma medication and ultimately told me to take a repeated x-ray and repeat Covid test after my condition did not improve. After the chest xray came out clean for the second time, the doctor in Glendale told me he did not know what the problem was and told me to hang in there or go to urgent care. By this time, I had slept only 5 days out of the last 15 days and lost over 10 pounds because of severe breathing problems, sleep deprivation and no appetite.
Then out of desperation at 6:00 am, after having stayed up all night, I searched for another pulmonologist and fortunately found Dr. Huang on Yelp and reached out to him by email. Surprisingly, Dr. Huang got back to me right away and saw me the same day through zoom video conference. Dr. Huang patiently listened to my history regarding the onset of symptoms and complaints and told me that if one of the asthma medication he prescribed did not improve my condition within the next few days, then he would see me to figure out what was going on. After symptoms did not improve, I went in for an evaluation and Dr. Huang actually listened to my lungs using a stethoscope and also conducted a lung function test himself. After a comprehensive evaluation and a lung function test, Dr. Huang told me that I likely had some form of upper respiratory infection before which may have caused breathing problems and fever, but at the time of his evaluation, my lungs sounded normal and I should not be having such severe breathing problems. He told me that what may be going on is that the asthma medication that I was prescribed was causing anxiety and panic attachs which was making my breathing problems worse - causing a vicious cycle - breathing problem so take more asthma medicine which causes more anxiety which makes breathing problems worse.
After I was taken off the medication, my breathing problems improved significantly. Although, it took weeks to deal with getting over the psychological component of having had breathing problems and panic attacks, I am now almost fully recovered.
Dr. Huang was so patient, kind, and methodical in the manner in which he diagnosed my condition in the midst of the Covid pandemic. It was so difficult to find a doctor who was willing to actually listen to my lungs during this Covid pandemic and give me a correct diagnosis. I cannot thank Dr. Huang enough. Had I gone several more days without sleep, I'm not sure if I would still be alive today. read more
