Guest Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Hi I'm relatively new to the board and need some advice/info. My dad is an R.V.er from Alaska and has NSCLC IIIB for 5 years...tolerated chemo well. He was spending some winter months in the Tucson area when his chemo suddenly stopped working. He ended up in the hospital last week with pleural effusion (never had this before) and had some sort of surgery...don't know the name but it involved using talcum powder to adhere the lung to the pleura and then they left a drain temporarily to drain out excess fluid. Anyone know the name of this procedure so I can research it? Also...he was going downhill rather rapidly so my family and I went down for a visit. Unfortunately my husband and son had a cold. We talked to my dad's nurse about whether my dad should wear a mask while he visited with us but she wasn't too concerned. We just got back from our visit yesterday and my dad tells me today that he has a fever of 102 degrees...now I'm feeling quite guilty that we probably got him sick...any chance the fever is caused by something else or are my feelings of guilt on the money? I sure wish I had insisted my dad wear a mask...but I figured the nurse knew best. My dad is considering taking an air ambulance back to alaska because his oxygen requirements are too great for a commercial airline. Have any of you had any experience with air ambulance service? (hopefully this fever doesn't mean he'll be unable to travel!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mmirrellll Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 he should be able to travel. wihsing you the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 The procedure is called Pleurodecis and the talc is used to cause irritation and scarring so that the 2 layers of the pleura adhere together. This eliminates the pleural space so that the fluid (effusion) cannot build up again. My husband had this done in January. The chest tube that they leave in is very painful and his stayed in for 10 days (he came home with it). His lung re-expanded almost all the way, so he only has a small pocket of fluid now and he no longer gets short of breath. He has had 2 chemo treatments and with this second one, we were just told yesterday that the remaining effusion was getting a lot smaller. My husband ran a temp from the procedure itself because it causes imflammation...they also did not give him anything because any anti-imflammatories would reduce the effect of the procedure. Hope your dad is feeling better and that this is of some help.... Kathy Wife if Tim, age 54, dx'd 12/27/02 with NSCLC Stage IIIB (?) Currrently undergoing Carbo/Taxol treatments every 21 days PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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