Hello,
I’m new here, frightened, and have a few questions.
Background:
I had breast cancer, followed by chemo and radiation in 1990. At the time, prognosis was poor, but all was good until 2015 when a I had a recurrence. This time, the cancer was in both sides, so I had a bilateral mastectomy in June. This was followed by dose-dense chemo (AC-T), which I finished in November. At 60 years old, a smoker, and aggressive chemo, I was pretty tired by the end. Nonetheless, I found I was getting stronger with each passing day post-chemo.
So, four weeks post-chemo, I was referred to a thoracic surgeon because of a nodule found in the upper lobe of my right lung. This 1 CM, mixed solid/ground-glass nodule was an incidental finding on a CT scan. The radiologist noted the nodule to be suspicious for adenocarcinoma. The surgeon agrees and is certain it is primary lung cancer (vs. a met from the breast cancer). He will be performing a VATS wedge resection next week. He is hoping it in-situ, but if it is stage 1, he will need to remove the lobe in a second surgery. I was told a needle biopsy isn’t practical because of the location and composition. The surgeon also ordered a PET scan to see what “lights-up,” but that has to be conducted at another hospital about an hour away. They could not schedule it until 10 days after my surgery. The surgeon is a top surgeon in one of Ontario’s finest cancer centres. The centre is also a level 1 lung surgery centre. So, I have confidence in the approach.
Questions:
How will the recovery be from a VATS wedge resection? How much pain will I have? Will I be able to care for myself at home, when I’m released from hospital a day or two later? I’ll note that while I did smoke for 48 years, I quit 6 days ago, hoping it will help with surgery. I don’t plan to smoke again. I had a lung function test last week and didn’t do so well, not surprisingly, but well enough for surgery.
Will I be in reasonable shape to go for a PET scan 10 days later? A relative will be driving me, but with traffic, I can count on about 3 hours in the car.
Thank you for reading, and I would appreciate hearing from anyone with any experience on this.
Regards,
Sio