Upper right lobectomy

Hi Blossom04 I haven’t had that procedure, so sorry I cannot help, but will bump your post so hopefully someone else can answer this for you. 

Hi Blossom,

First off, you should not feel any pain from this at all. Not because the doctors are a bunch of sympathetic softies - oh no. It's because you'll need to be breathing as deep as normal in order to heal up properly - and that won't happen if it hurts. You'll probably get started off with a morphine drip and move on swiftly to oxycodone until you're well over the worst and then onto serious doses of paracetamol.

My lobectomy was lower right, yours is upper right, shouldn't be a lot of difference. You'll probably be back home after 3 or 4 days, by which time you'll be able to look after yourself (and should, because you'll need to stay mobile.) There will be a drainage tube sticking out of your side to get rid of the internal seepage from the wound - don't let them send you home before it comes out (they might try.)

Try to focus on the fact that you will end up cancer-free.

kind regards
Steve

Hi there,

I had an upper right Lobectomy last August and I’m now on surveillance for the next 5 years.  The first 6 month check came back clear. So all’s good.

To answer your question, I didn’t get a surgical biopsy, mine was CT guided needle biopsy.

Pain wise - I found it completely manageable with drugs prescribed.  As Steve said, it’s very important to take the pain relief offered as it enables you to clear your lungs and do the breathing exercises which will help with any breathlessness and may enable you to recover some of the 15% capacity you lose with an upper right Lobectomy.

Everyone experiences this in a slightly different way. For me, it wasn’t as bad as I imagined.  Over a couple of days I had an intermittent nagging shoulder pain which was unpleasant but soon stopped.

After 6 weeks I was feeling pretty chipper. There’s a lot more information in my profile if you want it and feel free to ask any questions, I’ll do my best to answer.

All the best

Hi all unfortunately I didn’t get the news that I was hoping for the lung cancer has spread to my lining so I have my first oncology appointment on Monday. I just feel numb my nurse told me to write a list of question to ask them but my head is just blank anyone give me an idea of things to ask. 

Oh no that’s tough to hear. So sorry it wasn’t better news. 

I think I would like to know  what treatment options are available (chemo/surgery etc etc) I’ve been lucky enough to have someone with me at every appointment so I had a back up to take some notes. I know when I had my first phone call with the lung cancer team I was in fight or flight mode. The sheer stress of it all meant I took very little in and the notes I took were gibberish. Also I was blubbering because they were so kind.

I hope someone will jump onto this thread to give you some pointers.  I’m afraid I don’t have experience you need. I can only send you a big virtual hug.

Steph x

Hi Blossom,

Oh no, sorry to read that, your head must be all over the place...

Like Steph/Avidknitter said, you need to know what your options are and what the likely differences in outcome are. (I hate it when they ask me to choose - how would I know?)

Now that you've had a lobectomy they will have had a chance to analyse the the original tumour properly, so are there any targeted treatments available now or on trial?

Right at the beginning of my treatment I asked my consultant what I could do to improve my odds, because I knew some people fare better than others and I wanted every last bit of extra help. I was given a couple of pointers relevant to my case.

Fingers crossed for Monday.

kind regards
Steve

Hello Blossom04

i had an upper right lobotomy early April after a frozen section biopsy showed cancer present. I was uncomfortable for a little while afterwards, but nowhere near in as much pain as the staff said I could be. They kept me medicated to make things more comfortable, which is what I think made the difference. I had very good follow on care after I got home too.

i was given breathing exercises including an Inspired Volume Spiro Ball, which measures your performance and adds a challenge.

i did feel a little short of breath at first just getting out of bed or standing up, but improvement was fairly rapid. Going upstairs when I got home was a bit of a shock, I was very breathless by the time I got there. 2 1/2 months down the line things are much better and most activities feel like normal. I do get out of breath a bit quicker than I did before, but I am getting used to it.

All in all it’s not been the horror story I was imagining. Cancer is a scary thing. I am now just into my first cycle of chemo so I feel I can see light at the end of the tunnel, albeit not a very enjoyable tunnel.

i hope this is some help, it’s something none of us want, but I have found my care to be exemplary. The staff I have met have all been supportive, sympathetic and very caring.

Hi Blossom 04 I'm Dave I had my vars upper right lobectomy Yesterday they removed 40%of upper right lung I can't speak for outcome yet but procedure was OK,ish pain afterwards is quite unpleasant I would advise take all pain relief offered l have a pain relief drip going directly into my  lung a morphine driip and a canula  and paracetamol  morphine is only for few days and I hope to go home sometime weekend my lung nodule was 15 mm which is not huge but I have already had bowel cancer and had surgery have a permanent stoma and no anus/rectum it was scan to check on that which showed up the lung nodule which wasn't there last scan December 22 so fast growing and pet scan lit up like beacon made doctor 95%sure it's cancer they can't get a biopsy. Because of size and awkward position but I've just watched my wife die of lung Cancer on April 4th 10 weeks ago after 50 years together so for me it's a no brainer . The Surgeon says even if turns out not to be Cancer it's still the better option instead of waiting for months or even years I expect some chemo or something similar but I've had that before and it didn't make me feel to bad although the radiotherapy was pretty bad for 3/4 weeks. I really hope  that you get a good result if as you say it's keyhole surgery it should be OK the pain of surgery is nothing to the pain to your family ol watching any slower death or even a quick one I can't describe the way I feel my wife died 4 months after first diagnosis and not a good 4 months so my advice is take the surgery and get the demon out. Best wishes Dave