Lung nodule

Hi Jeff_B welcome to the group, I’m glad you have managed to join us here from the new to the community group.

 excavator I hope you don’t mind me tagging you here, but I know you give very reassuring advice around surgery. 

Hello Jeff_B,

I'm sorry you find yourself here, but it is a great place to come for real life information and experiences from others who have been there already.

It's a difficult question because your tests are inconclusive and a biopsy is not possible so you're faced with what must be an agonising decision between surgery to remove the nodule or wait and see. It wasn't so difficult for me because my cancer was confirmed by scans and a biopsy so there wasn't much choice. I do admit the thought of surgery petrified me at the time though.

My personal thoughts are:

1. Surgery to remove the nodule:

• Has your consultant said what type of surgery is involved? In many cases it's possible for keyhole surgery to be performed which is much less invasive and recovery is easier and quicker than you might expect. 
• Often the surgeon can start surgery and take a sample of tissue for biopsy for confirmation before proceeding to remove anything. I don't know if anybody has mentioned this to you?
• Losing one third of a lung may of course affect breathing, especially if you have COPD. I didn't have COPD but my operation did involve complete removal of my right lung (this has 3 lobes compared to the left which has 2 so is the dominant one). Although my breathing is obviously affected it is nothing like as significant as I imagined and doesn't affect day to day activities (and I am still active!).
• You'll likely have lung function tests to confirm you're OK for surgery as they won't want to operate if it's not going to be suitable for you.
• My operation was on a Tuesday and I was sent home on Sunday. However I had open surgery as keyhole wasn't possible.
• Best of all, my operation was in 2014 and I've been lung cancer free ever since so as you'd expect I'd seriously think about surgery to remove this and have the best chance of no further problems in future.

2.  Leave and monitor:

• This might be the easy way out right now and might be tempting. However you don't know if the nodule is malignant or benign, but it has grown and that would make alarm bells ring to me. Personally I'd have it removed because if it is malignant and grows out of control things could get much more serious and your options are likely to be much more limited then.

Of course I'm biased towards surgery due to my good fortune but the general consensus of opinion is this is the gold standard treatment if you're fortunate to be able to have it. There are several other members of this community who have also had surgery and I'm sure they feel the same.

If you have any questions about surgery just ask and I'll do my best to answer. 

I do hope you can make a decision you're comfortable with and wish you all the best for successful treatment whatever you decide.

Derek.

Hi Jeff  , I had the same options leave it or remove it , I chose remove it , it was all done via VATS , mine was also upper left lobe and I too have COPD and emphysema , I had a breathing test first to make sure I was ok for surgery ,my lung function was below normal but I came through it .

It is a hard decision but I know I didn't want the blighter settling in and then deciding to go for a wander around my body , I just wanted rid , but it's your decision , my family were the same " you'll be fine , you've beat it before " ( I'd had breast cancer 6 yrs previous,) 

I have a wee book I take with me to appointments to write down what I'm told plus I use it to write down any questions I have , like, I sit here and something pops in to mind and I think " oh I must ask about that " I write it in wee book , maybe that might help you to do that .

You may get more ideas from others on here , it's good we have somewhere we can come for info and support .

Take care Sandra 

Thank you Sandra it is very frustrating I have memory issues and under memory team I have seen specialist 3 times now and everytime I go it's like being told for the first time i have no support or family to talk to so it's down to me to deal with i am swaying towards the surgery as feel the same don't want it to go else where I have lost my mam daughter and grandson to cancer ime more concerned as I have heart issues so obviously I think the worst straight away I have just joined group to try and find how others dealt with it my lung capacity is down to 75% and have been told ile loose approx another 20% ime worried about managing breathless did you find your self more breathless and how did you manage 

Hi surgeon has stated major surgery what ever that involves he has probably explained but I have severe memory issues under investigation for early signs of dementia i asked about biopsy but have been told they can't do biopsy because of position of nodule and would be in hospital approx a week and there are risks involved how did you find your breathing after surgery and what was pain level like how long is surgery a have so many questions and concerns it's so hard when you have nobody to talk to as a do get rather confused about it am so glad a found the group  

Hi Jeff,  I'll be honest , at first I was very breathless but once I got home I took myself out for little walks , a wee bit further each day to help strengthen up lungs . You just need to take your time in doing things , go at your own pace don't rush .

• Can someone from your memory team not be with you when you see the doctors or if there is a nurse in with you ask her to write things down for you to read at home ? Getting this kind of news that you may cancer does kind of block things out and you can't take it all in . Ask a friend to go with you to listen to what's been said.
• You can pop on here where there are always others that will give you advice or answer some of your questions 
•  P.S  my op was 6yrs ago 
• Take care  Sandra

Jeff Hi 

You can record what they say on your phone so you can relay it back to yourself a few times or whenever you want to remind yourself 

Jennifer

Hi Jeff_B as Kingston  has suggested, this is a really good idea, if you explain to the oncologist about your memory difficulties they will not mind you recording the appointment on your phone, or maybe ask him to write any important parts down for you. 

Thank you I had not thought of recording  as I could listen to again and again as it does take a quite alot to register they did write most of the information down but I don't really understand it all I've started a book to write down questions that I have and concerns as there is so many

Jeff,

I'm sorry to learn of your memory problems, that must add significantly to your problems. As suggested above, I'm sure therre would be no objections to you recording what's said in consultations so you can go over it again later if you need to.

As Alexi52 says, you're bound to be breathless at first, as I was, and initial gentle exercise then gradually building this up will improve your breathing over several weeks. Short walks gradually increasing the distance is very useful.

I didn't find pain a major problem because pain killers are given to deal with this but there is some discomfort as with any other major surgery and you'll have to take things easy for a while. The important thing to do is follow guidance given, including exercises, before you're discharged. You should also be assigned a cancer nurse specialist who can be contacted if there's anything worrying you during the recovery period and afterwards.

Derek.