Lower Lobe Lobectomy

Kerry23
Kerry23 Member Posts: 17
in Lung Cancer #1
I have 24 hours before my VATS surgery to remove lower right lobe along with tumor (malignant) 2.2 cm and lymph nodes even though they were clean. Let's hope they are still clean, that test was over 3 weeks ago. I am nervous on the first couple of days of recuperation and this drainage tube, coughing, shortness of breath (but I get that anyway)
I am at least lucky that I am getting a second chance at life but I know recovery is long and uncomfortable. I don't have a recliner. When I wake up in recovery, will I still have the breathing trachea tube in me? Wish me luck and prayers, love to you all.

Comments

  • ellenm4
    ellenm4 Member Posts: 124
    #2
    Kerry you are in our
    Kerry you are in our thoughts and prayers. You will be fine I had a wedge resection done by vats and a lobecotmy done several months later and never once woke up with the breathing tube still in that I can remember. Just remember to get up and walk with help the first few days and do the breathing exercises. This is very important. Once you get home, you do not need a recliner, you can prop yourself up by using pillows. Keep us informed. I will be looking for your reply in a few days dear!
  • sarajoy
    sarajoy Member Posts: 2
    #3
    Left Lower Lobectomy on March 19th. 2012
    Hi Kerry, I had my surgery on march 19th. I am 2 weeks post op. Every day gets better. Im glad you are having the VATS procedure. Really the only pain I had was from the chest tube and sore muscles. I can honestly say that the lung itself was never really too painful. I had a hospital stay of 7 days due to some complications but all in all I have been healing well. Im already out driving and doing light house work. I am 31 dx on Feb 13th with adenocarcinoma . Pet scan showed no other involvement however the surgeon saw 4 lymph nodes near the tumor that although not enlarged, looked odd so he sent them off and came back positive which moved my stage from 1a to 3a. Supposed to start Chemo in 5 weeks. Trying to stay positive. Keep me updated on how you are healing. God Bless!
  • lekkerone
    lekkerone Member Posts: 199 Member
    #4
    Lobectomy
    Hi I had the VATS lower left lobe lobectomy on Dec. 1/10. I know we are all different but really I did not have a difficult time. I anticipated far worse that it was. When I woke up I had the nasal oxygen prongs and a drainage receptable for the chest tubes (2) I had. I could control the amount of pain medication I got and really didn't need much. You will be short of breath when you get up and it takes some time to regain your strength in that department. You will be up and walking the day after your surgery and at first you won't be able to go far. Persist and you will get stronger every day.
    I slept in my bed without difficulties when I got home.
    When you wake up in the morning, take a few deep breaths to get your body going. Get up slowly. If you rush you will be out of breath quickly. Each day gets considerably better.
    Please let us know how you are doing.
    I wish you all the best,
    Diane
  • arlekim
    arlekim Member Posts: 47
    #5
    Hola
    Hi Kerry,
    I had my VATS on March 30, 12, I am recuperating very slowly, i take small walks n do my breathing daily. today started out good until I dropped something and bended down to pick it up. BIG MISTAKE! Had to scream for help. Boy, will not do that again.

    I will keep u in my prayers

    Marcia
  • arlekim
    arlekim Member Posts: 47
    #6
    Hola
    Hi Kerry,
    I had my VATS on March 30, 12, I am recuperating very slowly, i take small walks n do my breathing daily. today started out good until I dropped something and bended down to pick it up. BIG MISTAKE! Had to scream for help. Boy, will not do that again.

    I will keep u in my prayers

    Marcia
  • grannylove
    grannylove Member Posts: 183
    #7
    arlekim said:

    Hola
    Hi Kerry,
    I had my VATS on March 30, 12, I am recuperating very slowly, i take small walks n do my breathing daily. today started out good until I dropped something and bended down to pick it up. BIG MISTAKE! Had to scream for help. Boy, will not do that again.

    I will keep u in my prayers

    Marcia

    Glad to hear...
    you are doing well Marcia. You are wise in taking it slow and of course not bending over. Yowza! I had my upper right lobectomy May 2011 and had to get down on my knees to empty the dishwasher. I had the full thorocotomy and not vats. But recovered very well and pretty quick. I also used some breathing exercises that were done by a pulmonary nurse on youtube. I just put in lung exercises and she came up. Excellent exercises. I started doing them before surgery and am sure they made a difference. I am doing Yoga now and find it most helpful. Blessings to you for continued recovery. Take it slow. Prayers. Cheryl
  • barbebarb
    barbebarb Member Posts: 464
    #8
    grannylove said:

    Glad to hear...
    you are doing well Marcia. You are wise in taking it slow and of course not bending over. Yowza! I had my upper right lobectomy May 2011 and had to get down on my knees to empty the dishwasher. I had the full thorocotomy and not vats. But recovered very well and pretty quick. I also used some breathing exercises that were done by a pulmonary nurse on youtube. I just put in lung exercises and she came up. Excellent exercises. I started doing them before surgery and am sure they made a difference. I am doing Yoga now and find it most helpful. Blessings to you for continued recovery. Take it slow. Prayers. Cheryl

    Cheryl
    How was sleeping
    Cheryl
    How was sleeping after surgery for u? Were u able to walk up stairs?
    I had left lung lobectomy o. 2/9 and next is thorocotomy to wedge R lung tumors and a liver tumor.
    How did u manage your pain?
    Its been a lot of touchy days healing from this surgery!
    Doc says lets get other side done
    These boards have been so helpful and full of strong people!
    Bar
  • barbebarb
    barbebarb Member Posts: 464
    #9
    grannylove said:

    Glad to hear...
    you are doing well Marcia. You are wise in taking it slow and of course not bending over. Yowza! I had my upper right lobectomy May 2011 and had to get down on my knees to empty the dishwasher. I had the full thorocotomy and not vats. But recovered very well and pretty quick. I also used some breathing exercises that were done by a pulmonary nurse on youtube. I just put in lung exercises and she came up. Excellent exercises. I started doing them before surgery and am sure they made a difference. I am doing Yoga now and find it most helpful. Blessings to you for continued recovery. Take it slow. Prayers. Cheryl

    Cheryl
    How was sleeping
    Cheryl
    How was sleeping after surgery for u? Were u able to walk up stairs?
    I had left lung lobectomy o. 2/9 and next is thorocotomy to wedge R lung tumors and a liver tumor.
    How did u manage your pain?
    Its been a lot of "ouchy" days healing from this surgery!
    Doc says lets get other side done
    These boards have been so helpful and full of strong people!
    Barb
  • barbebarb
    barbebarb Member Posts: 464
    #10
    barbebarb said:

    Cheryl
    How was sleeping
    Cheryl
    How was sleeping after surgery for u? Were u able to walk up stairs?
    I had left lung lobectomy o. 2/9 and next is thorocotomy to wedge R lung tumors and a liver tumor.
    How did u manage your pain?
    Its been a lot of "ouchy" days healing from this surgery!
    Doc says lets get other side done
    These boards have been so helpful and full of strong people!
    Barb

    sorry for 2 posts
    Guess I need some sleep!
  • barbebarb
    barbebarb Member Posts: 464
    #11
    grannylove said:

    Glad to hear...
    you are doing well Marcia. You are wise in taking it slow and of course not bending over. Yowza! I had my upper right lobectomy May 2011 and had to get down on my knees to empty the dishwasher. I had the full thorocotomy and not vats. But recovered very well and pretty quick. I also used some breathing exercises that were done by a pulmonary nurse on youtube. I just put in lung exercises and she came up. Excellent exercises. I started doing them before surgery and am sure they made a difference. I am doing Yoga now and find it most helpful. Blessings to you for continued recovery. Take it slow. Prayers. Cheryl

    Thorocotomy next-
    Cheryl
    How was sleeping after surgery for u? Were u able to walk up stairs?
    I had left lung lobectomy o. 2/9 and next is thorocotomy to wedge R lung tumors and a liver tumor.
    How did u manage your pain?
    Its been a lot of "ouchy" days healing from this surgery!
    Doc says lets get other side done
    These boards have been so helpful and full of strong people!
    Barb
  • arlekim
    arlekim Member Posts: 47
    #12
    grannylove said:

    Glad to hear...
    you are doing well Marcia. You are wise in taking it slow and of course not bending over. Yowza! I had my upper right lobectomy May 2011 and had to get down on my knees to empty the dishwasher. I had the full thorocotomy and not vats. But recovered very well and pretty quick. I also used some breathing exercises that were done by a pulmonary nurse on youtube. I just put in lung exercises and she came up. Excellent exercises. I started doing them before surgery and am sure they made a difference. I am doing Yoga now and find it most helpful. Blessings to you for continued recovery. Take it slow. Prayers. Cheryl

    Buenos dias
    Hola a todos. Cheryl, I am going to youtube it today. N, i can promise u this, " I will not b bending over anytime soon" learned my lesson the hard away. I sleep w/ 5 pillows, 3 on my head ( nicely proped up by my mom) n 1 on each side. I find that sleeping in a half sitting position works for me the best. I have a BIG family n very good frnds n they come over everyday after work to help my mom. I am their solid rock so they say w/ o me they r lost. I call em " My big Dominican fam." I'm just a big baby. How much of the yoga r u able to do ? Blessing for u also. Keep me posted.


    Marcia
  • grannylove
    grannylove Member Posts: 183
    #13
    barbebarb said:

    Cheryl
    How was sleeping
    Cheryl
    How was sleeping after surgery for u? Were u able to walk up stairs?
    I had left lung lobectomy o. 2/9 and next is thorocotomy to wedge R lung tumors and a liver tumor.
    How did u manage your pain?
    Its been a lot of touchy days healing from this surgery!
    Doc says lets get other side done
    These boards have been so helpful and full of strong people!
    Bar

    Slow and easy....
    Barbebarb. Even though we had the same type of surgery, everyone is different in healing and dealing with pain. Don't be afraid to take meds for pain though. If you are in alot of pain then you might not be breathing like you should. And you definitely need to get oxygen in your blood. That also helps the healing process and believe it or not....it helps with pain management too. Moving around also helps with pain and recovery. Stairs were slow but manageable. One at a time is how I did them. I tried to stay away from them for awhile though. Just walking slow around the house and outside with weather permitting, was a big help. I set goals for myself each and everyday. I would walk alittle farther outside or take another lap around the house etc. Seemed to keep me focused on recovery. I took pain meds on a regular basis for the first 2 weeks. After that I weaned myself off to one at night and one in the morning. But if I needed one during the day, I took it. Just remember that narcotic pain killers can slow the healing process if taken frequently. Your body has been thru alot. Sometimes I would use a warm heating pad on the incision site or on the sore ribs. As for sleeping, I slept propped up with about 4 pillows. Getting out of bed, I just rolled over slowly, oh so slowly, to edge. Doing everything slow and no fast movements. But moving about and breathing is a must. You can do this Barbebarb. It is not easy by any means, but you can get that cancer out of you and return to living your life. I know you mentioned that you have more surgeries on the horizon. Get your body as strong and as ready as you can. Eat right, take your vitamins and do your breathing exercises. Stay positive and know that we are here for you! Blessing to you and keep us up to date on your recovery as well as future surgeries. I will be adding you to my prayer list. Cheryl
  • grannylove
    grannylove Member Posts: 183
    #14
    arlekim said:

    Buenos dias
    Hola a todos. Cheryl, I am going to youtube it today. N, i can promise u this, " I will not b bending over anytime soon" learned my lesson the hard away. I sleep w/ 5 pillows, 3 on my head ( nicely proped up by my mom) n 1 on each side. I find that sleeping in a half sitting position works for me the best. I have a BIG family n very good frnds n they come over everyday after work to help my mom. I am their solid rock so they say w/ o me they r lost. I call em " My big Dominican fam." I'm just a big baby. How much of the yoga r u able to do ? Blessing for u also. Keep me posted.


    Marcia

    Yoga and such
    Marcia, Family and friends are blessings of the world, for sure. A strong support system is so helpful in recovery. As for my yoga, I am not a guru by any means. But the stretching, breathing together helps with anxiety and find that sleeping is much deeper. I have a very physical job and find that I get soreness at the incision site, yoga does help with that also. And the way I see it....meditation never hurts! I have a wonderful instructor who is very perceptive to the dynamics of the class. I am able to get in most of the poses, or at least try to get there. I am able to move further than when I was so am making progress. Stay strong Marcia. Blessings! Cheryl
  • grannylove
    grannylove Member Posts: 183
    #15
    How ya doin Kerry?
    Just wanted you to know that we are thinkin of you. Hope all went well with the surgery and you are doing well with your recovery. Take it slow and be easy on yourself. Keep breathing! One day at a time. Blessings to you Friend. Cheryl
  • ellenm4
    ellenm4 Member Posts: 124
    #16
    grannylove said:

    How ya doin Kerry?
    Just wanted you to know that we are thinkin of you. Hope all went well with the surgery and you are doing well with your recovery. Take it slow and be easy on yourself. Keep breathing! One day at a time. Blessings to you Friend. Cheryl

    I am waiting to hear from
    I am waiting to hear from Kerry. Have not yet. She should have already had the surgery and home by now. If any one know is anything or has heard from her please let me know....I am concerned.
    Elen
  • eggmd1
    eggmd1 Member Posts: 1
    #17
    Lower lobectomy
    I had my right lower lobe removed about six days after you. It has been a little rough but they did not find any other cancer even though they took biopsies of a few lesions that were found to be from Valley Fever. I am finding that I am very depressed and cannot figure out why. I should be dancing in the streets!! Is it normal to be depressed after cancer surgery? I was terrified after the diagnoses but not depressed.

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