Suepm Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 I am almost 1year out of right upper lobectomy and am doing pretty good . My question is I am planning a wonderful family trip with family to Wyoming , Grand Tetons and Yellowstone . I am a little nervous about flying . I was Stage 1a . And am excerpting and walking and am back to work and am doing well . Any suggestions . Thank you . This is my fist family tri since the cancer . Thank you . Suepm Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexieCat Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 I'm having a lobectomy next week, and I travel for my job--no trips planned till September, but my doctor says it should be no problem at all. If you're feeling good, I can't imagine that you aren't fit for travel after a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BridgetO Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Hi Suepm, I had a right lower lobectomy (VATS) last November. I had bronchitis in January. I flew across the country in March and had no problems at all. I was a little concerned that I might have some pain flying and I went prepared with pain meds (leftover from after my surgery) as well as the anti-anxiety med (lorazepam) that I sometimes need because I'm a nervous flyer. But I was just fine and I've taken 3 more round trips (one of them long) since then, also with no pain, no breathing problems and no more than my usual anxiety when I fly. I hope your travel experience is as good as mine had been. Have a great trip! Bridget Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Suepm, I am a big advocate of vacations after a successful cancer treatment. We more than deserve them. My only concern is pain in the incision area due to the aircraft cabin pressure altitude of 8,000'. This lower than ground level pressure tends to make your chest and abdomen expand and if you have residual suture pain, you may find the flight uncomfortable. Assuming you had VATs surgery, the suture area should be quite small and your situation may be a non problem. I had a conventional surgery to remove my entire right lung and then 3 subsequent surgeries to repair bronchus stump suture breaks. Each operation used the same incision area. Now, 13 years after my surgery, I still experience a great deal of pain flying in commercial airliners. Long flights are especially troublesome, but I still go. I take my pain medication while flying. A call to your surgeon ought to provide more details. Stay the course. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suepm Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 Thank you all for sharing your experience . I did have a VATS and my incision is quite small . My surgeon talked a lot about post op nerve pain before my surgery but I haven't experienced that . I am very grateful . Take care and I will post pictures. SuepmSent from my iPad using Tapatalk Tom Galli and LexieCat 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denzie Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I've traveled by plane cross country 2x and to Europe 2x post VATS and not had any problems. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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