[New to the world of cancer]

Did YOur mother work? If she did you may be able to get her on disablility. this could help you finnancialy.

check with social security and the proticol in your state.

[muscle spasm pain]

Greetings

had my left lower lobe removed on 2/9/04 released on 2/14 only to be readmited with complications from pain. Docs thought it was from the surgical site but i wasn't so sure about that. I kept telling them no its in the muscles of my left shoulder and back & thru my chest to my brest.

only after being readmited did they listen to me about the muscle spasams My question is has anyone else had this side afect from the surgery? I am worried that when i finnish the medications the muscle spasms will come back with a vengence. I am trying to keep mobile do yoga(what i can) to keep streached & supple & my mother is massaging my back once a day (Health insurance wont pay for massage therapy or at least as much as I'm going to need.)

[Post operation info]

I also am relativley new to this whole thing. I had my surgery on Feb 9

pain is bad you can expect dicomfort but not pain. I was sent home on oral meds and 5 hrs later had excruciating muscle spasam pain and eventualy was readmited to manage the pain. Not a fun experience. if you feel strongly they are giving you the wrong meds dont stop disagreeing always stand your ground. remember you know your body you live in it 24-7 the doctors only see you what 10 min every day in hospital and 15 min each visit in the docs office....... good luck

[in&out&in&out for good]

Greetings to all.

monday feb 9th was my surgery to remove the left lower lobe.

surgery went fine & yes it was nsclc tho it didnt show up in the lymp nodes

Pain management team however didn't do so well

i spent 6 hours in recovery because i continued to have pain dispite the epidural

right from the start i kept telling them it was muscle spasams but they would not bleave me.

The next five days they tried different oral pain meds but they made me vomit to. I did tell them from the get go i was sensitive to pain meds.

so after several days of experimenting I finnaly asked them to go with a pain med that i knew would not make me sick from a previous surgery Tylenol w/ codine #3 the doc says " oh there addicting" I'm like yea but they dont make me puke!!!!

So they sent me home on Saturday afternoon all pumped up with pain meds

everything was great untill the pain meds decded they were not doing muscle spasams any more...........

so after they sent me home on saturday i did have a major muscle spasam

it litteraly flored me.

imajine a charlie horse that envelopes your back and left shoulder , right thru the body to the chest.

I could not move without being in agony. so much agony that even speaking or crying was searing pain

poor john(my husband)he was so worried and didnt know what to do to help me

sooooo several hours later we called 911

the ambulance whisks me off back to the hopital. ( this was a major feet in itself as the local EMT's dont do the city) I dont know what john did to get them to take me to the city

they pump me up with so much morpine . to releave the pain. I think i left for mars at that point

only trouble was that the more morphine they pumped into me the more i would throw up. (thankfully the nurses understood and didnt leave me without my puke basin. I really didint want them to have to clean all that yuck up)

i get re admitted

I kept telling them i was sensitive to pain meds

i kept telling them the pain wasnt from the surgical sight it was muscle spasams

they said "ohhhhh thats very rare" Ok so since when did i do anything by the book? at one point the pain management team who worked with me said " well ya gotta expect some pain" My response was "yes discomfort put not outright pain!!!!"I felt like i had to fight for the right pain meds.

now the docs are listening to me

now they do beleive me when i say the pain is from muscle spasams

So now i'm on major pain meds along with a morpine back up that made me puke up any thing i ate

they add the anti inflamitory drugs

they add muscle relaxants

they add drugs for anxiety to help me relax

so you can imagine how waisted i was Sat night & Sunday

I would be talking. drift off. then wake up and talk about a totaly different thing

I did halucenate myself to a YES show. even the chairs were dancing I even got backstage with my mom of all people!

My dogs came to the hospital

I Went to Amsterdam on holiday though i can't remember who went with me!

Thats just a few of the halucinations i remember

The docs did wean me off the morpine on monday

and all the other pain meds & muscle relaxants are working to keep me relaxed and pain free now

I am sooooooo sooooooo glad to be home

I'm a little uncomfortable at times but no pain

so to all of you out there your advice was great

i did take a stuffed animal i named Funk This way when i caughed i could hold him and say # OH FUNK!!!! the intern doctors loved that! I had a pair of wild jamie bottoms so i wasnt mooning everyone on my hall walks

I did my breathing excercises as often as possible so other than pain management all went well

ill post more later cause im getting a little tierd now

[what to expect]

Greetings to all I havent been on for a while. Getting my check list together from all the great feedback. I keep coming back here to read. all of you are so wonderful. So monday is my big day. Gotta say I am scared. but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. thanks to all of you for your advice. It has been very helpfull. I invite all of you to visit a web site a friend of mine put together to check on my progress untill i am able to visit this site again http://home.comcast.net/~amlaye/ my husband will be giving him daily updates to post. gotta say i dont know whether to party it up this weekend or wallow in my fear. i wish it was monday already!!!!!!take care ann

[you are all an inspiration to me]

I can not thank all of you enough for all your good advice and support

I was telling my mother yesterday how wonderful the internet is, not only for knowledge but for support. I have begun walking every day and i found a program to do yoga every morning. This has really gotten my day moving on a good note and my attitude has made an about face. I am no longer feeling sorry for myself. I am organizing my helpers network. I'm trying to give everyone who wants to help me a little something to do. You have all given me such great advice. i now have a shopping list to focus on. 17 days till surgery - when i'm compleatly well i think i want to throw a big victory party for all my caregivers!!!

[what to expect]

Unfourtunatly i am not a good canidate for that type of surgery

apparently the mass is to large trust me i did my home work and i did ask.... oh well with all your thoughts and prayers out there and good advice i feel enpowered thank you all so much

sending luv & light to all

close to the edge

[Just arrived]

Thank you all so much

i can not tell you how much all of your advice is helping my spirit

I do have a count down and i am doing alot of preperation & spending time with the people i love - trying to get my support network of people organized - funny how when something like this happens friends come out of the woodwork to help - You have all added to my shopping list - I have also begun to start my day with meditation & yoga as well as a daily walk - this has helped my spirit & energy tremendously!!!! I will take all of your advice. I tryed to post a photo of myself to put a face to the name but the file is to large i will try to take a photo at a lower resolution. I am so glad i found this site - it is encouraging to meet people who have been down this same path and understand compleatly how i feel.

Luv & light

Ann

[what to expect]

Greetings to all

12/1/03 lung mass found in xray

series of tests - all came back clean except in lower left lobe where mass was found - mass lights up like a light bulb - about 5 cm - sounds kinda big to me - i know i'm really lucky they found it early

i am scheduled for surgery 2/9/04

really scared-i have no idea what to expect-i am most afraid of the pain

could anyone fill me in on what to expect? Any advice to make it easier for me. How long is the recovery? should i bring anything special to the hospital to make me more comfy? Help

[Just arrived]

Hello , since 12/1/03 i have been thru a battery of tests. they found a lung mass in my left lower lobe. they did a broncoscopy but couldnt get ahold of a piece of it so its not officially cancer however on all the other tests it lights up like a litebulb so chances are it is.....i am scheduled for a lobectomy ( i think thats what its called) on 2/9/04 i'm sure its cancer. but they say its the early stages so my out look is good.

never the less I'm still terrafied. i joined this site to talk with other people who have been down the same road. i just know this is going to be so painfull. from all i've read it sounds like a really rough surgery. i am dreding it. can anyone discribe what it will be like? could anyone suggest any tips to make any part of this go a little easier? i would appreciate any help at all. many thanks in advance