Jump to content

Bob P

Members
  • Posts

    11
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • City
    Westlake Village
  • US State (if applicable)
    CALIFORNIA
  • Country
    United States
  • Status
    Lung cancer patient/survivor
  • Interests
    Pharmacy, photography, travel, reading, crossword puzzles.

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. Hi Tom, Thanks for your post. What an ordeal but fascinating reading! I would encourage everyone reading this to click on: "Treatment history here", in Tom's post to get the full picture of what Tom went through 18 years ago. I've had a picnic compared to Tom. The surgeons (at least mine) don't tell you what to expect after surgery other than you might have some pain or cough up blood or pieces of your lung, etc. Nothing about coughing. So when it hits, you feel like you must be doing something wrong and it's a "Why is this happening to me" feeling. I do have some narcotics in the medicine cabinet but I'm not going to use them because I can live with the bouts of coughing and I do think they are getting better over time and I'm going to try the benzonatate that ChiMana mentioned. Thanks again for sharing your challenge and congrats on the 18 years. Wishing you many more to come. Bob P
  2. Hi ChiMama, Wow, your coughing/S.O.B. problem sounds exactly like mine times 10! Albuterol does no good because it's not a breathing out/wheezing problem, it's breathing IN problem that triggers the cough. I'm going to ask my doc for some benzonatate tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion! BP
  3. No, I haven't seen my x-rays. I guess I could ask the surgeon or Pulmo. to post them on line so I could. good idea. You should make your last post a new post, new topic. Maybe something like: "Pain after surgery". It looks good and would be very helpful for people having the type of pain you mentioned. Thanks. bp
  4. Yvetteh: I think it was Julie_K that had the plural effusion but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that yours WILL go away soon! bp
  5. Hi Yvetteh, Thanks for the suggestions. I'm definitely going to try the pressure points you mentioned; I don't have much faith in cough medicines and I'm a pharmacist! (Unless you do the heavy-duty narcotic ones.) I do walk 1.7 miles each day - FAST- and, strange, never get short of breath. Every time I try the spirometer I can only get to 1500 and then start coughing; every time. My pulmo. Doc gave me permission to stop - he said my lungs were completely clear and open. Wow, glad to hear you had a successful surgery! The aggressiveness paid off.. As I said before, I was lucky they caught mine early so didn't need any chemo, etc. 2 medical people told me that whenever they operate in the chest and remove lymph nodes (like they did with me too), they do some damage to the nerves that are running around in there and that's what's causing the coughing.
  6. Chris_M, I had that block it was wonderful. I felt nothing when they took the drain out and by the time it wore off, I was completely out of pain. Bob
  7. Hi Lily, Thanks for responding. Mine started a week or two after surgery also. I think my body was afraid to cough or sneeze or yawn for a couple of weeks until it felt safe to do so. Yes, I'm lucky they caught it early; they were actually looking for a shadow on my pancreatic duct they thought might be a problem after a routine lab test showed an elevated bilirubin. Nothing came of the pancreas or the bilirubin but the lung nodule did show up. They took it out within a week after my biopsy showed an aggressive form of cancer. I've still got the dry cough, four or five times a day, but it's not painful so I'm just learning to live with it. I'm hoping it gets better after a while, like you say. Bob
  8. Hi Julie, Wow, I thought I was the only one with the problem. Your condition is worse than mine. It's so soon after surgery for you, I'm thinking it will get better soon. Same thing with the spirometer with me; if I breath in, I get an automatic cough and my body says: "Stop that!". I think mine is slowly getting better. Doc gave me no meds. I'm learning to live with it and follow the pulmonologist's advice about waiting 6 months to a year; not much choice. Mine is worse in the evening also when, at times, I can't breath in so I can't talk. Usually only lasts about 5 minutes. I think it's some kind of subconscious, psychological reflex with me; it kicks in when I try to talk to a certain person on the phone. Weird, huh? They did do an x-ray right after the surgery and said everything looked fine. Let me know, in a few weeks, if that pleural effusion gets reabsorbed and you are done with the coughing/breathing problems. Fingers crossed. Bob
  9. Hi, I'm 3 months post surgery for a small NSCLC nodule. Surgeon removed a lobe and the nodule (of course) with no need for radiation or chemo. The weird thing is that if I try to voluntarily take a deep breath, my diaphragm and stomach muscles contract and I cough. It's like my body is trying to protect me from hurting myself by breathing deeply. The funny thing is that I can take a deep breath to sneeze or yawn or exercise; it only kicks in when I'm talking on the phone or trying to have a conversation. Most of the time I'm fine and the pulmonologist doesn't know what it is; he just says call him back if it's not better in 6 months or a year. I really am not complaining; many people in here have many more serious problems but I'm just wondering if anyone had a similar experience and how long it took to get over it. Bob P
  10. Scary for sure but I'm glad you had a wonderful outcome and you are CA free after 10 years. I'm sure it will never come back. My story is similar but thanks to a wonderful doctor, they caught it very early and I didn't need and chemo or radiation. I'm CA free for 2+ months now and I don't expect to come back (thinking positively)! Bob P
  11. Hi everyone, I'm Bob from Southern California. I got diagnosed with <2cm. Non-Small Cell LC, aggressive type, in early summer. Had my Ultra Sound, MRI, CAT Scan, Needle Biopsy, PET Scan, in fairly fast order and had the bugger out, along with a lobe, on June 13. 2 days in the hospital and very little pain. Back to work in 2 weeks. I consider myself VERY lucky and very unlucky. Unlucky to even get LC since I've never smoked or been exposed to Radon. VERY lucky to have found it early before it could spread. Interesting story on how it was found: Routine blood test showed high bilirubin so PMD did a ultrasound around my liver that showed a shadow on my pancreas. CAT scan showed: "No problem in the pancreas but possible nodule in lung". Further testing revealed LC for sure. The ironic part is that LC usually manifests as LOW bilirubin. So I'm just really glad the doctor didn't say: "Well your bilirubin is a little high but probably nothing to worry about" and sent me home! Probably saved my life! So I'm cancer free and can exercise without a problem (no marathons) but I have this persistent cough and shortness of breath about 2 or 3 times a day for no reason. I'm going to check the forum to see if anyone is having the same problem. Thanks for letting me go on-and-on. Bob P
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.