Questions for Thoracic Surgeon

Sundanceh said:

Invasive?
Hi Alina

I don't want you to get the wrong impression that either the VATS or da Vinci robot surgery is not "too invasive."

Whether it's those or a full open thoracotomy, it will hurt. I was the first patient in North Texas to have the da Vinci robot surgery done on the lungs...it was a success, but I found the recovery and pain was actually better with the full open procedure.

Not too long after my da Vinci surgery, just a couple of months actually, new lung tumor appeared...it was pretty big about the size of a tangerine and embedded into my chest cavity. The surgeon had to do a full open procedure....surgeon unable to attain clear margins as a result of tumor location....thus necessitating a full on radiation and chemo campaign that followed over that long year.

The issue will be SPO2 levels...which is your oxygen saturation level....walk as much as possible...do all of the treatments that the respiratory therapists tell you to do....and blow into your spirometer as often as you can stand out.

This will expand your lung back after they collapse it for the surgery...you will have a chest tube inserted to drain the blood and stuff from the lung...you'll have a little carry-on suitcase that you have to tote with you until the blood is able to be re-absorbed back into the body.

Morphine will manage your pain...they will send you home with some of the standard pain stuff....I found that by large, they were not effective me, so I just toughed out the pain...I'd take Tramadol the first few days and then discontinued...it could sometimes help me sleep some and that helped.

There will be some scar tissue build up and you may feel some tighteness in the surgical area...you will probably feel that during your yoga exercises when you bend. I've had two surgeries in the lung, so I'm not as flexible anymore...but with your training, I'm sure you will fare okay.

I caught part of your story...sorry don't know all of it with all I've been involved with the last few months caregiving and burying my father...but the good news for you is that you are new to the battle....your body will be strong and able to handle it, so I feel you will do well.

I've been pretty beat up the past 8-years and have done quite a few surgeries and many treatments....the body is hurting and tired and things are always more challenging than when you are first starting out and have all of that strength and energy to carry you.

Good luck to you and hope for success.

-Craig

Sundanceh said:

"You've Reached Me"
Alina

Yes, they will remove the chest tubes but it will take a few days...the issue will be when the drainage gets below a certain level, they will remove them...it might be one...last time I had 2 chest tubes...I'm a hard case, lol!

The little suitcase has measurements so they can determine daily how much leakage there is...past a certain point, the body is able to re-absorb that blood and the tube(s) can be removed.

A little hint...tell them to give you a count of 3.....you know, 1...2...3...before they begin to pull, take a big old deep breath...they should pull it quickly instead of steady...it hurts much less that way.

My first lung surgery (da Vinci)...I was in the hospital about 5 days I think....when they did the thoracotomy procedure, I was in there about 13 days.....took me more time to heal before they could yank those tubes out....they won't let you go home with tubes.

I forgot to add.....my last surgery they took out 5 wedge resections and removed 2 ribs...they didn't break 'em....the surgeon just sawed 'em off, LOL! Ouch!

And it is normal to collapse the lung....they have to do that so they can have some wiggle room in there...they will insert the chest tubes to reinflate...and the lung tissue closes in around it to provide a nice tight seal.

Walking and your respiratory treatments and your spriometer will help keep the lung expanded and back to its original position....and you might as well get ready for alot of X-rays....they will x-ray you each morning you are at the hospital...to compare and make sure the lung is holding air...and that they are seeing less of the remaining fluid on the lung from surgery.

And if they go to a full-open procedure...that scared me, but we changed plans seconds before surgery, so I did not have time to think. But if they do, it will be okay...the cuts and scar will be a little nastier.

But I found that I fared better and did better with the open vs daVinci, which is robotic VATS....I think that stems from the fact that they can open up the surgical field and have cleaner access vs the other procedure where the field of vision is narrower.

In my case, with the DaVinci, they 'missed' the other big tumor that surfaced 2 months after the surgery...had they done an open, they just might have seen it and saved me another surgery.

Anyway, that's my story...and I'm sticking to it:)

I hope you do well...let me know if I can help. Hugs.

-Craig

Phil64 said:

Wow. I was lucky in
Wow. I was lucky in comparison. I only had one nodule removed from the lower right lung with only one night stay in the hospital. I do know they had to collapse the lung as part of the surgery. However, I simply had faith that the surgeon was good and as it turned out I think my faith was well placed.

I was nervous about the removal of the chest tube but the surgeon said it wasn't going to be painful or uncomfortable and as it turned out it was exactly like she said it would be.

As an asside... For the colon resection surgery I had a nose tube (draining from the stomach?), a drain tube coming out of near the incision, and a catheter (spelling?). Removal of the tubes from my nose was horible -- not painful but it was a foreign experience. The nurse did it quickly, so it was over before I really knew what was goin on (kind of like removing a bandaid). Removal of the catheter was uncomfortable (also done quickly). Removal of the surgical drain tube from that surgery was interesting. The nurse that did this told me it would be painful. She gave the the 1, 2, 3 count and as it turned out it was nothing.

Breathing exercises are showing results! I'm pround to say, that after doing the breathing exercises religiously the last several days I've added another 500 ml (from 3000 to 3500) to my exercise. Also, the numbness is starting to subside and I was able to sleep on my right side a little the last couple of nights (side the surgery was done on).

And yesterday I started driving again! That gives me a little freedom.

So, I hope you are going to be lucky too... I will certainly want to hear how your surgery goes.

Phil

Phil64 said:

Yes, I'm using something
Yes, I'm using something called a voloyne. It has a tube that I suck air from. A float moves in as I pull air into my lungs. The goal was set at 3000ml. I've been doing 3500ml lately. I used this same device after the colon resection and I was doing 5000ml then so there is a definite impact as one might expect.

I'll be looking for your post surgery report. I'm sure all will go well.

I was also thinking about a blog, to keep everyone updated instead of sending out a bunch of email. But I simply didn't take the time to set one up. How is the blog working out for you?