Recent surgery

Hello Lilou,

What a shame you had to undergo open surgery instead of keyhole.

I had open surgery to remove my right lung in 2014. My memory of recovery is a little vague now but one milestone I remember was that I had precautionary chemo 6 weeks after the operation (I was T2AN1M0) and was pretty well mobile by then.

As you're pretty fit (so was I) I'd expect you'll recover quite well. It sounds like you're making good progress already, and walking is great for recovery. I do remember overdoing things a few times and it certainly let me know, but I did push myself.

I stopped taking painkillers other than over the counter products soon after because I wanted to drive. 

I also remember the sharp stabbing pains which happened quite regularly at first, these soon subsided but even many months later I would get the odd one, usually if I was doing something strenuous. You might also experience more vague general discomfort for some time, particularly when you're very active. 

Your description of extremely uncomfortable is what I recall, and sleeping upright was also unpleasant. I was back in proper bed in less than 2 weeks, although getting up involved a bit of a roll over at first if you know what I mean.

I don't think you're being unusually impatient, I was exactly the same. Go with the flow and rest if it starts to bother you too much and you should be fine. If you have access to a physio at your gym it might be worthwhile asking them about a suggested exercise regime when you're up to it.

All the best, Derek.

Thank you Derek that's great to hear. One of the PT s at the gym is doing a physio degree and I briefly spoke to him before the op. Walking does help but the other day i think I did overdo it as had a couple of small hills i went on and there was nowhere to rest ( only wandering around our village) so will take that a bit steady. The Dihydrocodeine did seem to help but made me drowsy which was good and bad . Its my left side upper lobe removed so on a positive i m right handed so can do plenty on the negative i have a manual car so driving might be a bit yet

 My husband is ok being chauffeur so I m ok . I also feel guilty for feeling sorry for myself when people are diagnosed at a much later stage and know I should be grateful as I m a non smoker so it s been fortunate it was found. Thank you again for your reassurance. It's so useful having others who've been through it 

Yes, the first hill I attempted was a bit too ambitious, it nearly finished me off!

Mine was found because I coughed blood, otherwise who knows what would have happened? I know your feelings about "survivor's guilt". I still get it.

Aw again so good to know not alone. Been out for the afternoon and managed to get distracted from the pain/discomfort which was a bonus. Thanks for responding 

Hi I’m 56 I had a lower left lobectomy on the 7th January I was very lucky as 29 mm so no further treatment at this time.

I had a ct as unwell and they found an aortic root aneurysm that was about to burst so open heart surgery July 25. Now that’s horrible and I look like a dinosaur with a7 1/2 inch scar. They saw a spot in lung but was put on hold as other op was urgent.

october another scan and said spot had grown. By December saw consultant who told me he was taking my lower lung. Luckily I was also fit as a licensed dog boarder.

mine was keyhole and the pain in boob got me down. And walking and trying to push yourself gently helps inflate the lungs clear and mucous left etc.

just had my first CT and all ok at this time

That was a really tough set of treatment, I hope you recover well from both.

Good to see in your other post that the recent lung surveillance result was clear.

Derek.

Thank you

Hi LIlou ,it must of been really scary having open surgery instead of keyhole ,i was pretty fit before my surgery in 2022 ,but i had problems afterwards with the chest drain which took over 10 days before it could be removed ,i found just walking was a great help ,i did not walk far for the first few weeks ,but built it up over time ,i also found that laughing /sneezing/coughing were all difficult until i used a pillow ,also the tablets they gave me to come home with eventually were too much for me and i felt like a zombie so stopped them myself and like you i just took paracetomol .I also think we are all inpatient ,its just we want to feel normal again ,and you will get there and this will all be a distant nightmare ,hope you are feeling much better soon   K

Thank you. For some reason couldn't get back on the site for a few days. Generally making good progress.  Might have overdone it a bit today as feeling it now in my ribs mainly due to bending ( picking baby toys up.. ) Also thought I d miss out lunchtime Paracetamol.  Now on 4 per day rather than 8 xx

Update well seems lung cancer removed stage 1 but caused by EFGR  mutation. Appointment next week to discuss adjunct therapy