I have smoked for more than 50 of these 70 years. I waited too long to quit and here i am. I am worried about losing part of my lung. I am afraid of the effects of chemo as an alternative. I want to cancel the surgery and just hope for the best. 18mm mass in lower left lobe. I still work, i am fairly active and i am not yet ready for my life to end.
i dont know what to ask. I dont know where to go to find answers. I dont know if any alternatives are better. I am posting here to both vent and maybe come across something to ease my mind. I feel loke i have a week left of life and i dont see how life would be better without part of my lung.
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LarryGaryBobTerry
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I am sorry you are dealing with this.. I felt the same way 5 1/2 years ago. I had a similar size in my right lower lobe - they took the entire lobe out and a smaller one in my right upper lobe - they took a wedge of that out. I was short of breath initially however made a point of walking every day. Before I knew it, I felt almost back to normal - cough for about 2 months was more annoying. Hiking steep elevations and stairs were the only areas I felt it and just needed to pace myself more. I recently had another area on my right upper that was removed on October 18 - so I really am left with only just a middle on that side. I am back to the gym 1-2 hours a day and have started to run again! I didn't need chemo either time thankfully and would take just the surgery over that in a heartbeat! My surgeon said if I had to just have one lung I would be fine too!!! Good luck you - the waiting and unknown is by far the scariest part!
I am sorry that you are dealing with this but the fact that it is stage one is great news! I had non small cell surgery rt upper lobe removed. I now am back to normal and find myself forgetting to think about it often. The recovery took me a few months but I am back to work in a special needs k-1 class and looking forward to celebrating my 70th in July. Best advise is be positive and grateful!
Hey there. Glad you found us but so sorry you are here. You are very fortunate (doesn't feel like that now I know) to have discovered this so early! The primary reason that lung cancer is such a killer is that it is usually discovered after it has metastasized. You are in a great position (great health otherwise, strong, early stage) to knock this thing out with surgery and get on with life all for the better! I'm going to close by copy/pasting my cancer story in hopes that it will give you some encouragement. Wishing you all the best. 🤍
After 58 years on this planet with zero health issues I ended up here. I was one of those that never went to the doctor (don’t do this). After months of dealing with joint pain that turned severe in the morning I finally went to a doctor. Long story short, in April of 2021 I went to a GP who immediately suspected autoimmune issues and suggested I see a rheumatologist. I was given a diagnosis of RA and Sjögren’s. Rheumatologist doc wanted baseline x-rays to track joint damage. Didn’t get two miles down the road from the imaging department before I received a call from the rheumatologist telling me they found a rather large tumor in my lung.
From there I went numb. Doc referred me to pulmonologist who referred me to an oncologist and a fantastic cardiothoracic surgeon.
Between all these new doctors, I had all the contrast scans, PET scans, brain scan, bronchoscopy, PFT, nuclear stress test for surgery, genetic testing, etc.
In August ‘21 I had a 9.5 hour RATS lobectomy (upper rt). Removed a 6.5 x 5.2 CM tumor. Clean margins. Doc also pulled 30 lymph nodes prior to the lobectomy to confirm that it had not spread. Lymph nodes were swollen so he was suspecting there might be cancer spread but it turns out autoimmune disorders can present in swollen lymph nodes.
Surgery went great. Recovery was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Worst part was the cracked rib that occurred while “wrestling" the large tumor out.
Staged as T2b, N0, M0 IIB
Six weeks post-op I started four rounds of adjuvant chemo treatment with curative intent per my oncologist. Started out with Alimta and Cisplatin. Had to switch out the Cisplatin for Carboplatin due to horrible tinnitus.
Chemo finished in mid November ’21. As I write this now, I feel GREAT! Back to the gym/pool, back to taking care of things on my horse farm and just in general feeling good.
Ok..I'll chime in here...I'm 63 F and I had stage 1/2 and a 4cm tumor which flipped over and caused my lung to collapse after swallowing something. It went the wrong way and I had a coughing fit in March of 2021. I could not have been any luckier. I never would have known it was there until probably to late You are in a beautiful place (ok maybe I'm a little carried away) as stage 1 is a "win". I had the upper left lobe removed on a Tuesday and I checked out of hospital on a Friday and picked up my dog on the following Monday and felt fine...relieved.(surgery was not at all a problem-scary but doable) .I hit the ground walking every day that I felt up to it until I was walking every day to expand my lung capacity.
I had 4 rounds of chemo (cisplatin but had to change to Carboplatin due to ear problems) and did fine with that. Positive thoughts and getting up and moving is the key. If I had it to do over, I absolutely would have followed the same path. It's scary on first blush but don't make a decision of fear. Do it on faith and trust that they have progressed so far with this that most of us should have been dead a long time ago. I've heard a lot about Tagrisso a new drug for lung cancer. Might be worth the question to your Dr. Good luck and go forth a conquer the world young man...you got this!
Hello, Larry, My name is Linnie and I am stage 3 lung cancer survivor that was diagnosed in 2018. I went through Chemo, Radiation, and Immunotherapy, and yes I was scared that I was going to die also. I mean everyone is scared when we first hear the words cancer, but once I decided to speck more positive about my life by saying that I will live and not die, and that I am more then a conqueror through Jesus Christ who gives me strength. My fear started disappearing. I knew that I wanted to live and that I was going to fight to live. I took the treatments because what did I really have to lose. If I didn't take the treatments I would die and if the treatments didn't work then I would still die. I have been in remission from cancer now going on 4 yrs. and I feel great! I don't take life for granted. I travel more to really enjoy my life that God blessed me with and I enjoy my family, my yardwork and everything that makes me appreciate life. Keep your head up and don't just give up. Fight for your life because you want to live. I will keep you in my prayers and I know that God is truly a healer because I have experienced it for myself.
Larry, Stage 4 NSCLC survivor here, chemo and radiation were rough for me, but looking back it was worth going thru it because I am still walking and talking. It can be scary and in my opinion the best way to beat to beat this horrible disease is to keep a positive attitude and have a good support group to fall back on
It's natural to be scared and for some reason lung surgery seems to scare many people much more than if a doc was telling you you needed heart surgery or your gallbladder removed. Our lungs have 5 lobes between the 2 lungs - 2 in the left and 3 in the right and most of us do not use our full lung capacity anyway so removing one lobe or even two is manageable. A standard treatment for TB back in the day was to remove the whole lung and people carried on with their lives but we don't hear about such surgeries, survivors stories or successes.
I went to the ER room in mid October with strange symptoms and a 'lesion' was found on my left lung but because I'd never smoked, sent home with antibiotics and steroids but readmitted the next day and kept in for a week, misdiagnosed and treated as 'uncontrolled asthma'. Further delays as I couldn't lie still due to coughing to have a CT scan then scanner broke down and parts had to be ordered. Almost 5 weeks before scan showed the 'large mass' more clearly. then sent for PET scan then letter received to see a thoracic surgeon a couple of weeks later. However a few days after PET scan his secretary called saying I had to see him first thing next morning at another hospital rather than planned appointment about 10 days later. He calmly explained whatever this large mass was that showed so clearly in all images, it needed removing with half my left lung (upper lobe) which seemed a bit extreme to me. I asked if any alternatives and he said not and they would send off the mass to the lab to determine what it was and decide any further treatment . Only at the end of consultation as I was leaving, did he add 'until we know more, we're treating it for suspected lung cancer' which was quite a shock. I had open surgery (thoracotomy as minimally invasive keyhole surgery didn't exist ) mid December and it took until mid January to get results which turned out to be a 7cm tumour (stage 2b) adenocarcinoma - a type of non small cell lung cancer. That was in 2011. I was back at work, swimming, active by April 2011 and have been so ever since - increasing my already regular swimming distances and travelling.
I've been involved in cancer research especially lung cancer since 2013 and shocked to learn how few patients are detected when surgery might be an option as once it spreads beyond the lungs, systemic anti-cancer treatments have to be used. Many new treatments have been developed since my diagnosis -for specific biomarkers/mutations. Combination treatments are now common for those not found early enough for surgery to be an option - but lobectomy remains what is considered 'gold standard' for treatment with curative intent. So as others have said, I'd grab the opportunity and look forward to recovering from surgery and getting on with your life. Yes, in the short term, there will be recovery from breathlessness, inactivity, invasive surgery but if you needed heart surgery, appendix or spleen or something else out, would you be hesitating in quite the same way? Our bodies are amazing and can heal from many traumas if appropriate treatment can be delivered promptly. All anticancer treatments have side and some late effects so thinking chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapies would be easier may not be the case. They are usually used for those for whom ablation or surgery isn't possible.
Our local hospital compiled this guide to lung surgery to answer questions, guide patients and it was adopted and regularly updated by Roy Castle lung cancer foundation some years ago. hopefully it may reassure you of what will happen and help you make a truly informed decision rather than one driven by fear and anxiety. good luck. roycastle.org/app/uploads/2...
Hi, I'm so sorry to hear that you are facing this. It is a terrible shock to hear the diagnosis. I remember wondering, 'How could I have lung cancer?' (this after smoking for 30+ years). I walked around for the first week or two gingerly, as if I might drop dead any second. I had kind doctors and nurses and supportive family, which helped a lot. My cancer was NSCLC, Stage 2. I had one lobe of my right lung removed with robotic surgery and it went very easily. There was some pain but nothing like what I had expected. I was out of the hospital in two days and back to work and my usual routine. I then had chemotherapy, which I had dreaded. It just wasn't bad. There were a few days when I was tired and I did need to eat small meals more frequently. The doctors gave me a prescription for something to prevent nausea and that worked very well. My hair turned gray/white and a lot of it fell out--just got very thin. I didn't have to shave my head. After the chemo, I did a year of immunotherapy and then had a scan that showed what the doctors thought was likely another tumor. So I had another surgery and they removed the middle lobe of that lung. I was very worried that I would be short of breath but it was fine. And the pathology report came back negative. The spot was just an encapsulated infection--not cancer. I guess what I want to communicate is that things have changed so much in medicine and cancer treatment. Neither the surgery nor the chemo was all that difficult. I was amazed that I could keep working and doing my usual things. Different people do have different experiences so I can't guarantee that the treatment would be as easy for you but for me it was so worth it to have more time. I wish you all the best and hope to hear that things go well for you.
I am so sorry for this, and I am so grateful you found the cancer early enough to have a lobectomy. I was diagnosed at Stage IV 8 and an half years ago, and the prognosis is so so much better for you. It won’t be easy, but you can do this. YOu will be amazing at how well you can recover if you set your mind to it. You might have many years of high quality life ahead of you if you go forward with interventions/treatments. Best of luck to you!
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