Muriel

Hi Kelly. Welcome!
As I understand things, surgery is the best chance for a cure. Need I say more? I had an upper right lobectomy in June 2003. The diagnosis, after surgery, was 1B - because the size of the tumor was a little larger than what "qualifies" for a 1A diagnosis. Pain management, in the hospital and then at home, was very good. I was in the hospital for 5 days. I did take Vicoden for about 4 or 5 weeks - a lot in the beginning and less and less as time went on. I didn't drive for about 6 weeks. Spent a lot of time watching really awful daytime tv. I was given the option of adjuvant chemo (carbo and taxol) and started that in mid-Sept. Recovery from that was complicated by getting the flu just as I completed the last treatment. I was told that I couldn't have a flu shot during chemo and to try to be very careful. Guess I wasn't careful enough. When I did recover from chemo, I was fine - a little short of breath for a while. That may have been partly my fault as I didn't do the breathing exercises.
I can't imagine not having surgery if the opportunity was available.
Muriel