Hospital and operation

[jckjanetrosalin]

Going in hospital sunday operation monday to remove half my lung and old tb scar. Doctors do not know if this is early cancer or not cancer at all. I have had lots of tests that have not shown cancer, but surgeon worried as shadow around tb scar. It is known that cancer can form in old tb scar tissue

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Dear jckjanetrosalin

Welcome to the forum. It must be so difficult for you not knowing what the diagnosis may be, however encouraging that all your other tests have not shown cancer, which would be good to hold onto until you have a clear answer.

I have placed a link below you may find useful on information on lung surgery, albeit you may not have cancer, but there is some good information on what to expect and after care.

roycastle.org/system/file_u...

Recent research shows that it is still controversial the association between lung cancer and TB scarring. You may find this research article of interest:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

If you wish to discuss anything you can call us on our free nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200

Be good to yourself over the weekend and rest well.

Wishing you all the very best

The Roy Castle Support Team

[jckjanetrosalin in reply to RoyCastleHelpline]

Thank you, i am worried about how i will be after losing half a lung

[JanetteR57 in reply to jckjanetrosalin]

Appreciate your concerns as I lost half my left lung 7 years ago and had similar fears and concerns. It can take time but you can 'retrain' your remaining part of lung/lung to pick up some capacity by moving about/keeping active which is very important. The lung surgery book on the roy castle website is very informative. good luck.

[jckjanetrosalin in reply to JanetteR57]

Thank you for replying it puts my mind at ease. Did you also have chemo after you op x

[JanetteR57 in reply to jckjanetrosalin]

No, the type I had was diagnosed as mucinous BAC (broncheoalvolar carcinoma) but the body that classifies lung cancer around the world has since reclassified this into different terms. At the time, it was believed that what I had didn't respond to chemo so my follow on treatment has always been 'watchful waiting' with check-ups and chest x-rays at regular intervals (quickly into annual checks as my recovery went well) . At the time of my diagnosis there were only two checks done on tumours for ALK and EGFR and I remember being told I had neither. Since then, no end of treatments have been developed targetting specific mutations, working on the body's own immune system or targetting the signalling that cancer cells make to one another to turn them off. Also since my diagnosis, there have been developments in surgery meaning the traditional thoracotomy I had is less common now as most people have VATS( video assisted thoracic surgery) or robotic assisted thoracic surgery (keyhole) with quicker recovery time, as less invasive. There have also been many developments in radiotherapy including SABR (stereotactic ablation techniques) and combinations of chemo/radiotherapies with different agents or using targeted drugs (biologicals) or immunotherapy. It's complex and very personalised which is why it's important to discuss your own case with your clinicians as there is a lot of variability. one of the main things to do after lung surgery is to be active - sitting around carries risks so moving about (slowly at first) is a good way to recondition the lung itself. good luck.