Pleural Effusion ?

plural effusion
I had that happen after my surgery I had half of the fluid drained but couldn't continue because of pain, after that I was monitored and it went away on its own it took a long time. but I don't know what yours is caused from and I can't give any advice I am just telling you what happened to me good luck its not fun I know .

onray said:

OUCH Nan
Gosh, your liqiud problem sounds alot worse than mine is. Mine really has no pain, but as it builds, it makes my breath get shorter as it builds. Then, 3 week intervals they go thru my back with a long needle and tube and drain it, taking about 10 15 minutes. It is just the hassel of a 3 hour ordeal at the Hospital for a 15 minute drain. I am glad your problem went away, and thanks for the input. Ron

draining the fluid
did they give you anything for pain when they do this? or put you to sleep I had fluid drained because of plural effusion and they said it would not hurt but the pain was so bad they had to stop after 2 liters. when they first started they did not numb me enough and I passed out from the pain and it was done much faster then 3 hrs. maybe they went to fast I dont know but never want to go through that again .

onray said:

Draining the Fluid
Wow, I am really sorry to hear of your BAD situation. I had it done again 2 1/2 Weeks ago, for the 3d time and they only got 1.1 Liters from me. They go thru the Back, they MUST deaden it?, as I HATE needles and the sharp-but toleable pain was for only like 2 to 3 seconds. They have me set on a bed, have me rest my arms on a portable Table, holding myself pretty straight up and they are done in about 10 to 15 minutes. I am wide awake the whole time, of course can't see behind my Back. Then they have me go back to regular bed for 45 minutes, to make sure my Lung doesn't collasp. Now, they are taking the Fluid out of the SACK, around my left Lung, NOT actually out of my Lung itself. So something doesn't sound rite in your situation??? The Doc comes into the little room and is actually GONE in the few minutes just to poke me, as one other person sets it up and finishes it up. I think? they must use that ultra sound to find EXACTLY where they are going to poke me to be able to miss the Lung itself. I HOPE this explains MY situation to you and I HOPE it helps YOU to make it easier next time. Good Luck, and if you have more questions, let me know, as it is looking like I WILL be doing this every 3 or so weeks, until they FIND the source of the Liquid, which they are trying to do??? Ron

Draining the fluid
I have just gotten home from the hospital from having my lung drained for the fourth time. The first and second time I had it done in the doctor's office. Very little pain as they deadened the area that the tube was going to run thru. The fluid drains by gravity, so the more they drain the longer it takes. First and second time he drained 1000 litres. I had almost instant releif in the shortness of breath. These last 2 times were done with an ultra-sound to get the lowest spot in the sac they can to drain as much as they can. They drained 1600 litres. 3 days later my breathing and coughing hadn't recovered as expected, so they did another ultra-sound and detected a second sac. They went ahead and drained that also and got another 800 litres of fluid. I did get the breathing releif as I had before. They are telling me there are a couple of ways of dealing with this. One is to put in a catheter, so you can drain your own fluid into a bag. The other is to completely drain the lungs over a period of 3 days. After that they inject a type of "glue" to bond the lung lining to the chest wall and eliminate the sac's for the fluid to collect in. If the fluid doesn't collect in these sac's it will enter the bloodstream the way it is supposed to. The next time my lung fills with fluid we will determine which way to go.

CCAOG said:

Draining the fluid
I have just gotten home from the hospital from having my lung drained for the fourth time. The first and second time I had it done in the doctor's office. Very little pain as they deadened the area that the tube was going to run thru. The fluid drains by gravity, so the more they drain the longer it takes. First and second time he drained 1000 litres. I had almost instant releif in the shortness of breath. These last 2 times were done with an ultra-sound to get the lowest spot in the sac they can to drain as much as they can. They drained 1600 litres. 3 days later my breathing and coughing hadn't recovered as expected, so they did another ultra-sound and detected a second sac. They went ahead and drained that also and got another 800 litres of fluid. I did get the breathing releif as I had before. They are telling me there are a couple of ways of dealing with this. One is to put in a catheter, so you can drain your own fluid into a bag. The other is to completely drain the lungs over a period of 3 days. After that they inject a type of "glue" to bond the lung lining to the chest wall and eliminate the sac's for the fluid to collect in. If the fluid doesn't collect in these sac's it will enter the bloodstream the way it is supposed to. The next time my lung fills with fluid we will determine which way to go.

I hope you mean 800, 1000,
I hope you mean 800, 1000, 1600 mls, not liters! Heh

Sometimes if the cancer is in the lining of the lung or lymph nodes, you can get abnormal amounts of fluid created and it has nowhere to go as nodes aren't draining as well as usual.

CCAOG said:

Where does it come from
My doctors can't agree on where the fluid comes from. My lung doctor says it is from the cancer. My oncologist says it is normal to have fluid in your lung, everyone does it just gets absorbed into the bloodstream, My lung lining has a few sacs and when the fluid gets in there it can't come out normally and just collects there. My internal medicine doctor said it could be from congestive heart failure. They ran all the test possible on my heart and found it to be allright. I am thinking that the cancer created these sacs in between my lung lining and chest wall,and the fluid just collects there. Good Luck and keep fighting the good fight. Jeff

pleural effusion


I had my right lung drained 4 times, each time the amount was a little more, and the build up was getting faster, my lung doctor done surgery on me and removed the lining in my right chest, which was covered with cancer nodels, I was in the hospitial for three days with a chest tube draining my right chest, then came home, havent had any more problems with fluid build up at all, its been 2 months.