Right lung removed

[Eglingham]

Hi, looking for some advice from anyone who has also had a lung removed. I had my right lung removed 13 weeks ago, should I still be experiencing days of discomfort where my diaphragm is tight and ribs sore? My breathing also has its challenges some days depending on how much I cough. I walk 3-5 miles a day and have just gone back to work last week, not sure if this is normal to still have bad days or if I'm over doing things. X

[Becky130777]

Hello there I am not sure if I could advise you as I had a Bi-lobectomy just over 4 weeks ago so not as far along although I have probably been doing up to 3miles a day and quite often my Fitbit says I have done around 10000 steps. I am still taking tremodal at night, preagablin and paracetamol so not off all painkillers yet. Are you still taking any painkillers. I find my breathlessness seems to be worse and better some days and was hoping it would get better over time. Hopefully there will be someone on here who can share their experience or might be worth contacting Roy Castle for advice are you still in contact with your Thoriac nurse? Wishing you all the best and hope things start to improve soon x

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hi,

Some people recover more quickly than others following surgery and it can take many months to completely recover from lung surgery.

Some shortness of breath is to be expected and is normal. You may have to adapt your lifestyle to cope with longer term breathlessness.

It is also normal to feel occasional shooting or stabbing pains. The nerves and tissues damaged at the time of surgery require time to repair themselves. It is very important to take your pain relief as prescribed.

I have attached a link for our lung surgery booklet for advice.

roycastle.org/app/uploads/2...

Kind regards,

All the team at the Roy Castle Helpline.

[JanetteR57]

That's still good going considering you had the whole lung removed. I had upper left lobectomy in December 2010 and returned to swimming at end of March and had done some work in the February but returned to more of it by the end of March 2011. I remember raising concerns with the consultant at 3 and 6 month follow up about struggling with inclines/stairs although I was rebuilding my swimming and was back to level I'd been at pre surgery by my 6 month check up (130 lengths). He explained that our activity we do regularly enables our bodies to recover and adapt for that action but other actions done less frequently like incline/stairs may take longer as a totally different action. My breathing was also affected on different days which I assumed were temperature related or pollen related.... I occasionally get a twinge in line with surgical scar when I bend down suddenly so your description sounds perfectly normal to me. It also depends how fit you were before your surgery. I'd suggest reading the Roy Castle booklet on lung surgery which my local tertiary centre helped compile some years ago and wish it had been around when I had my open surgery for reassurance and keep up the good work of walking. It will take time - it's a major operation and your body is having to adjust without a whole lung - thus changing the balance of oxygen interchange so give it time.... and be kinder to yourself. take care.

[Eglingham in reply to JanetteR57]

Thank you 😊 I am hard on myself as I was so fit before and get really frustrated. I started using a cross trainer last week and think that I may have over done it. Take care and thank you x

[JanetteR57]

Important to listen to your body and rest up if you've overdone things - it's no good to overexercise even without losing your lung.... muscles need a day of rest at least once a week. It wasn't until somebody explained how major open lung surgery was on the body - more traumatic than open heart surgery apparently - think it's different for keyhole surgery - but as much of the 'damage' is on the inside and we only view the external wound/scar, we're ignorant of how much has to repair internally in terms of muscles, bone and nerves. In many ways I'm glad I didn't know the detail beforehand as this may have made me anxious but still grateful for every day....... I too remember being very impatient to be back up and 'at them' but a colleague of similar age who'd had stomach cancer 18 months before kept saying to me that a few weeks/months in the grand scheme of life was worth living steadily for recovery.... not thinking I'd still be around or active 9.5 years later as statistics at the time were even more inaccurate and gloom ridden than today, I was probably too impatient for my own good. Overdoing the physio exercises, coming off painkillers too soon (fearing addiction) and showering everyday resulted in my wound reopening and having to be packed and dressed..... it's understandable to be frustrated but give it time..... I went onto swim much much further than I ever had before and used the exercise to raise money for Roy Castle, improve my fitness and do it in remembrance of a dear friend we lost just months after my surgery... good luck with your continued recovery and be kind to yourself...