Like many of you my story started september 2022 with a suspected nodules found throu an unrelated ct scan. Adenoma carcenoma was diagnose for this 1 cm nodule after after some more test and scan i am finally schedule for surgery monday morning. I am a 65 yrs old man and this will be my first surgery which makes me very uncomfortable enough to trouble my sleep pattern. Not certain if it is the general anesthesia procedure, the surgery by itself or simply fearing the unknow but i will be happy when this is over.
Thank you and the very best to all of you
Christian
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Hi Christian, hoping everything goes well for you. I had a wedge resection, left lung December 2021 and the an upper lobectomy March 2022. Lungs completely clear of any Mets in follow up Ct scan. Keeping well. I have read so many encouraging stories on this side, so many advancements in surgery, it's amazing. It's easy to say don't worry, not so easy to apply. I read it's good to get out walking, if you are able, the exercise is good and perhaps it may help you to sleep better. Sending you lots of get well wishes. Kind regards
My husband (71) recently had a lobectomy for a 2cm stage 1 tumour. It is daunting but he was discharged 5 days after op and care in hospital was excellent. My only advice would be to ask as many questions as you need before they send you home or make sure you know who to ask as it is often when you get home you realise ‘I should have asked about …’
Hope it all goes well and try not to stress in advance as we realised when he was in ward just how common this op is now
Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear you have lung cancer. It is understandably a worrying and anxious time for you, which is very possibly impacting on your sleep routine.
I see you live in Canada, they may do things slightly different to the UK, but you are welcome to look at our surgery booklet if you would like some more information: roycastle.org/app/uploads/2...
Having a general anaesthesia, is very routine and the drugs are much improved, you will be given some medication via a small needle/tube that is in the back of your hand, where you will quickly fall asleep. The anesthetic team will look after you during your surgery and will wake you up with some medication through this same site in the back of your hand. You may be given an oxygen mask before and after for a short while.
I hope all goes well for you and do discuss your concerns with the surgeon. You are welcome to email us if you have any questions at lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org
I have similar story,went to urgent care thinking I had covid,no tumor by an 11 mm nodule on my upper right lung ,after watching it for a year and it changed color and got more dense,end result I had a lobectomy upper lobe on right side, adenocarcinoma,stage 1, 65 at time, I never smoked,2 days in the hospital,had some issues with shortness of breath,walking helped ,on my 1 year anniversary I did my first 5k,the American cancer society G W bridge challenge,I m thankful we caught it by accident,most lung cancers by the time you show symptoms your at stage 3 or 4 and that's much tougher to deal with,good luck
Thanks for sharing your experience, it is true that we seem to be on the same path regarding this health issue, and like you i feel very privilege that doctors caught this problem early on, it certainly gives me hope for many more years in front of me. Thanks again.
It can be a scary time and most of us know nothing about lung cancer when we set out - and google is outdated and inaccurate and if people tell us about those they knew with lung cancer, it's often in hushed or sad tones.
I had open surgery (thoracotomy) in December 2010 for lung cancer at 52 and it was my first operation since having my tonsils out aged 3.5 . I actually thought that helped me as I had no comparisons - I just got on with it!
My surgeon had explained by drawing a picture of the lungs what would be done - he would remove the large mass and the upper left lobe of the lung (half the lung). That was done in Dec 2010 and my tumour was 7cm (like an egg at the tope of my lung) and diagnosed as mucinous adenocarcinoma. I was back at work and swimming by March 2011 and have worked, swam and travelled ever since.
He told me to keep as active as I could before and after surgery as that would help the lung redevelop. I went onto swim much much further than my previous 130 lengths several times a week so bought into his suggestion that there were things I could do to improve my lung health.
Since then many things have changed in lung cancer - earlier detection, keyhole surgery, more treatments, much more known, changes in every type of treatment - new treatments like immunotherapy and targeted agents, different types of radiotherapy and many different classifications of the tumours themselves meaning people may have different follow on treatment. Treatment can be much more personalised than most other types of cancer but for early stage, surgery still is the optimum treatment.
It's hard to get comfortable after lung surgery so don't lie on the side of surgery for a while - I found sitting in bed, propped up with cushions helped me get off to sleep and helped drain anything out of the lungs (which can settle when lying flat). Your body will need to recover and rest/sleep are important but not too much!! You'll be encouraged out of bed in hospital quite quickly. Keeping active is the key - it doesn't involve running marathons but moving about to work the lungs - walking (gentle to start off with - around the house, garden, street) is ideal.
It's important not to lie/sit around or the lung will take longer to redevelop. It's only recently that people have started to have 'wedge' or 'less than a lobe' removed now many are detected earlier through screening or imaging when investigating for other things. Minimally invasive surgery has become the norm.
You'll find lots of information on Roy Castle lung cancer foundation website about recovering from surgery and suggested milestones. Their booklet referenced in their response to your post was developed by our local tertiary thoracic surgery centre and adopted and updated regularly by the charity. It comprehensively covers most aspects of life before and after surgery but other information on their website like dealing with breathlessness, diet, keeping active are also interesting.
The initial breathlessness post surgery usually improves quickly especially once the drains have been removed. I was in hospital for a week with open surgery but the average length of stay is much shorter now with keyhole surgery and 'smaller' operations.
When I was diagnosed, sites like this didn't exist and I found reading helped me - as I didn't know anyone else who'd gone through anything like it - I particularly liked a couple of books ' anti-cancer a new way of life' by Dr Servan Schreiber and 'cancer is a word not a sentence' by Dr Rob Buckman - both different but not hard to read despite being written by doctors.
I became involved in lung cancer research at the end of 2013 and have just returned from a 3 day conference in Belfast on lung cancer - the progress in research, knowledge about the multiple different types, interventions like lung screening to detect them sooner, and changes in treatments is astounding.
Good luck with your treatment and here's to a speedy recovery.
Many many many thanks for your generous message Janette, your story gives me great hope for the future. I have read also the booklets from the Roy Castle which also had a wealth of informations for someone in my situtation with a very limited view on lung cancer as this came from nowhere in my life very recently. And i feel very privilege to have stumble upon this website also. Thank you once more.
I imagine most of us on this site struggle with anxiety at times no matter treatment or stage we're at. I do a guided mindfulness session every night before I go to sleep which I think really helps me. There are lots of free apps which you can find online. The one I use is by someone called Glenn Harrold.
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