Dina A

Hey everyone, I had my surgery on the 12th and I’m doing ok! They went in via thoracoscopy and saw that my upper lobe was significantly smaller than it should be (likely just a structural anomaly). So they had to go ahead and perform a mini thoracotomy and take out the entire lobe. It was really tough at the beginning but I was still able to get up and move around in the hospital and I went home after 3 days. Each day gets better and I’m thankful to have my brother in town to help. Thank you also to everyone who posted with encouragement and resources, it was all very helpful. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with sharp diaphragm spasms/pains? Is there anything to be done to lessen the pain and/or spasms or will they ease up with time? They were really bad in the beginning then subsided and have now started up again since increasing my amount of movement/time walking. -Dina

Mamma Om, thank you so much for sharing your story. That’s quite a lot that you’ve gone through! Thank you for the details of your experience, it helps hearing it from the perspective of someone who has other heath issues. I wish you the best in your upcoming journey

Lou! That “tips & tricks” post is AMAZING!! Thank you so much for sharing. It’s been really comforting to read and I’m definitely going to make sure I implement your suggestions. I greatly appreciate your reassuring words

Bridget O, this is so encouraging to hear! I’m glad your surgery went smoothly and I appreciate the suggestion of the wedge pillow. I had spinal surgery 2 years ago so I will break out the slew of different pillows I used during that recovery. I also just purchased a recliner so I’m hoping that will help too.

Edivebuddy, thank you so much for your response. As far as I know it isn’t looking like there’s lymph involvement. I’ll confirm this with my surgeon though. Is that something they can see when they’re in there during surgery?

Hi, I’m having surgery to remove an atypical carcinoid in my upper left lobe in 3 weeks. They may do a partial resection or have to take out the entire lobe. We won’t know until they get in. They plan to do this via VATS and this is my first surgery for this and I’m overwhelmed and terrified. I have lots of other chronic, autoimmune, genetic conditions having nothing to do with this so I’m not sure how my body will respond. Any information/suggestions/questions to ask the surgeon are welcome. While this isn’t my first surgery, this is my first lung surgery.