Uterine Sarcoma may have spread to my lungs. Scared about biopsies surgery on my lung :(

Annabella Rose

I had a Pet Scan. It was all clear except for a small spot on my upper left lung and another even smaller spot on my right lung. My oncolgest sent me to a thoracic surgeon to get a needle biopsies but the surgion said my ribs are very tight and the only way to get to the spot on my left lung is by doing a thoracoscopy  with a wedge resection under general anesthetic. The oncolgest is very concerned if the sarcoma from my uterine has spread to my lungs and if it has the chemo treatment will have to change from 4 rounds to 8 rounds plus radiation. If it is not cancer then I will start my 4 rounds of chemo every 3 weeks soon.

 

The surgeon will be doing what is called a thoracoscopy and a wedge resection on my left lung because he feels the spot is a bit larger then on the right lung and closer to the surface to reach.

He will also be putting in a port in my chest for the chemo treatments.

My question is, has anyone here gone thu this type of surgery and can you tell me what to expect? I'm concerned about pain and if I will have trouble breathing when I wake up.

My surgery is on Wednesday Feb. 18th.

I have to admitt I am really scared of another surgery and the findings.  

eihtak

Annabella Rose....

Hi, I just saw this post so I am hoping your surgery went well and you are now set to recover.  Just two weeks ago I had a thoracotomy to remove a mass (recurrance of anal cancer first diagnosed 4 yrs ago) on my lung. My entire lower left lobe was removed. I was scared as well and did not know what to expect. If your reading this I'm sure you are still in some pain and discomfort, but know that you will feel better each day, especially once the drain tube is out. While I'm more tired than I was prior to the surgery and I have general aches in the area, it is relieved with tylenol and my breathing is not at all uncomfortable any more. I will be starting chemo next week and just had my port placed two days ago. It was not done at the time of the lung surgery as we were not sure of the need, so now just a little more soreness from that.

Listen to your body and don't over due....if I'm up and about and doing too much I get sharp pains in my side/chest where the surgery was done. I find that sitting down with my feet up is necessary throughout the day, and while this is not typical for me, I have learned it is essential to get through this.

I will keep you in my thoughts as you heal from surgery and we can travel the path of chemo treatments together. Please let me know how you are doing.

katheryn

Annabella Rose

eihtak said:

Annabella Rose....

Hi, I just saw this post so I am hoping your surgery went well and you are now set to recover.  Just two weeks ago I had a thoracotomy to remove a mass (recurrance of anal cancer first diagnosed 4 yrs ago) on my lung. My entire lower left lobe was removed. I was scared as well and did not know what to expect. If your reading this I'm sure you are still in some pain and discomfort, but know that you will feel better each day, especially once the drain tube is out. While I'm more tired than I was prior to the surgery and I have general aches in the area, it is relieved with tylenol and my breathing is not at all uncomfortable any more. I will be starting chemo next week and just had my port placed two days ago. It was not done at the time of the lung surgery as we were not sure of the need, so now just a little more soreness from that.

Listen to your body and don't over due....if I'm up and about and doing too much I get sharp pains in my side/chest where the surgery was done. I find that sitting down with my feet up is necessary throughout the day, and while this is not typical for me, I have learned it is essential to get through this.

I will keep you in my thoughts as you heal from surgery and we can travel the path of chemo treatments together. Please let me know how you are doing.

katheryn

Home and healing

Thank you Katheryn for your post and support. Yes I am still hurting and having trouble with talking. The more I talk the more my chest hurts. I stood in the hospital for 2 nights. It was pretty hard because I can't tolerate strong pain meds. On the 2nd night they suggested I try another one that isn't suppose to have bad side effects like the others I tried. I was in so much pain that I agreed to try it. It's called Nucynta. It took about an hour after taking it when I started to feel the pain lessen and then I fell asleep. I am glad to know I can take now if the pain gets to bad.

It did feel better when they took out the chest tube. I am still uncomfortable but I'm glad I've met you and know you can understand the different feelings, before, during and after.

My port is the least of the pains. I'm glad they were able to put it in at the same time. Sometimes I forget it's even there, I think because my chest and side hurts so much that it take away any thoughts of the port.

Now the waiting on the pathology report. They told me in hospital that it's takes a few days for them to get it back.

Chemo will be the next thing to try to keep good thoughts about.

I hope it all turns out easier then we thought or feared. I know many people say it's not as bad as it was years ago.

eihtak

Annabella Rose said:

Home and healing

Thank you Katheryn for your post and support. Yes I am still hurting and having trouble with talking. The more I talk the more my chest hurts. I stood in the hospital for 2 nights. It was pretty hard because I can't tolerate strong pain meds. On the 2nd night they suggested I try another one that isn't suppose to have bad side effects like the others I tried. I was in so much pain that I agreed to try it. It's called Nucynta. It took about an hour after taking it when I started to feel the pain lessen and then I fell asleep. I am glad to know I can take now if the pain gets to bad.

It did feel better when they took out the chest tube. I am still uncomfortable but I'm glad I've met you and know you can understand the different feelings, before, during and after.

My port is the least of the pains. I'm glad they were able to put it in at the same time. Sometimes I forget it's even there, I think because my chest and side hurts so much that it take away any thoughts of the port.

Now the waiting on the pathology report. They told me in hospital that it's takes a few days for them to get it back.

Chemo will be the next thing to try to keep good thoughts about.

I hope it all turns out easier then we thought or feared. I know many people say it's not as bad as it was years ago.

Annabella Rose....

You are still only a few days out of surgery so do take things easy, but yet they told me it was important to get up and walk several times a day to help in healing. I had people visit me the first several days and it was kind of annoying because talking was difficult for me too, but it will get easier. I was also told to take breaths in through my nose, hold for a few seconds (increasing as tolerated) then slowly breathe out through your mouth. I don't tolerate pain meds well either but did take oxycodone during the first week + just at night, but, now I'm ok with just an occasional tylenol. I really noticed feeling better at the two-week mark, so be patient and take it slow.

Pathology does usually take a couple days and the waiting is difficult. I had chemo 4 years ago at my initial diagnosis and will be getting the same mix of "poison" I had before. I was really sick at the time and had a rough time, but other than healing from this recent surgery, I feel stronger now so am hoping to manage a bit easier. Staying hydrated and eating things like greek yogurt (easy to digest protien) seem to help.....so thats my plan but we'll see.

I'm just so frustrated, as I had been feeling great with no symptoms when I went in for a follow-up scan and this mass was found. At 56 years old I recently went back to college and am helping my daughter with wedding plans for this May.......and now all this!! Ugh!

Oh well, we do what we need to and keep moving forward, right?

I hope you have a restful night with less pain and easier breathing.

katheryn