mihalo Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 G'day. I am a 33 yr old ca patient from Oz, just looking for some stories from others who have had a full pneumonectomy as I am about to endure one for met bowel ca. look forward to chatting soon. Cheers Mihalo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlemike Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Hi Mihalo and welcome. To be honest the pain was pretty severe for a few days but they will get that under control with pain meds. I was recovering faster than I thought I would until they had to go back in a couple of weeks later to stop some bleeding. My 2nd surgery was much more painful than the 1st but they say mine was kind of a isolated incident.I was very short of breath right at first and wondered if I had made the right decision but with in a matter of a few weeks it had improved tremendously. Im still nowhere near where I was when I had two lungs but Im not on oxygen and lead a fairly normal life.Your left lung has 2 lobes and provides 40% of your lung funtion whereas your right has 3 and provides 60%.There are a few more 1 lungers who visit here and Im sure you will be hearing from them shortly.My prayers are with you and your children at this difficult time for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatlemike Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Also I might mention when you leave the hospital that alot of pain meds cause severe constipation.I dont remember anyone at the hospital telling me of this. Try to stay ahead of it with stool softners. I never had any idea constipation could be so painful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joppette Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Hi there, didn't understand your message, but second what Mikme said. A Lobectomy is very painful. Make sure you get good pain meds, but also stay on top of the regularity. I did not and suffered greatly from constipation. To this day I have horrible memories of that time. Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric byrne Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Hi Mihalo, G'day yourself sport,welcome to LCSC from a Pommie,or as I am a Scot maybe it should be MacPommie?.No I an not the whinging ignorant one(he lives next door. Dont really match with your request,in having the removal of the upper part of my right lung,but what I can tell you, honestly,I sailed through with only minor discomfort,and I am definately not a Scot with braveheart tendancies,quite the reverse.My discomfort mainly was would you believe one episode of constipation,which in good taste I wont elaborate on to the relieve of the readers,drinking lots of fluids I have since discovered from the buddies here,I may have missed that one out also. I have since returned to work now for nearly two years and feeling great both phsyically and mentally,cannot tell you enough about the contribution the buddies here have made towards my return to full health.I know you will soon discover for yourself,that you have wandered into a place that couldnt be better in helping you through your course of treatments and beyond.I am really looking forward to getting to know you even though you are an Aussie 'n all,good luck sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihalo Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 Thanks everyone for your messages, and warm welcome. i feel like I am invading your territory as I am not a Lung cancer patient as such, but I will be going through much of what you all have been through. Judy sorry to have been a little confusing in my original post. I have bowel cancer with secondaries in my left lung and I am having a full pneumonectomy. I have already had a small wedge resection of the lower lobe of my lung but this time they will be taking the whole lung as the tumors are in both upper and lower lobe and at the carinal junction which is in the centre of the chest. Hey Eric, thanks for your story. I am feeling a little more confident now that I will be able to do this, and although a little slower to begin with I will be back on my feet chasing kids soon enough. As far as constipation goes, being a bowel ca patient I have experienced quite a mix of goings on down there!!! chemo has been just as hard on the bowel with constipation so we almost have a mini pharmacy here with meds for all that stuff. My hubby and I joke that we are "Poo-ologists" with what we know about bowel motions these days! I will keep coming onto this site if thats ok, the personal accounts are amazing. Thankyou. Cheers Mihalo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminkw Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Welcome. You have secondaries to the lung and can relate to our survivors. That's good enough for me. I'm an oddball without a tumor so I can't relate to your specific experience. What I can relate to is the original dx and the progressions since then. I'm right with you on that feeling level and it sounds like with your attitude and sense of humor as well. Believe me, they will take you a long way. Good luck with your surgery. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihalo Posted October 10, 2010 Author Share Posted October 10, 2010 Hi Judy, Gee sounds like you have been on a bizzare journey too. When I was originally diagnosed it was adenocarcinoma of lung only the pathology wasn't consistant with lung adeno all the same I was sent to a Thoracic surgeon to have the left lung removed as the PET scan only showed 3 little dragons in the lung and 1 lymph node in my abdo. Lucky I had a good surgeon and he wanted to investigate that little node first, and he was finally the first person in 4 years to listen to me when I told him I had bleeding from my bowel. A simple colonoscopy became a 3.5 hr surgery to remove 70cm of bowel and a large clearance. He then had the devistating job of having to tell me now that he couldn't save my life and it was in fact terminal bowel ca not stage 2 lung ca as first thought. But because of a great team I am still going well. I hope that your specialists can investigate this abdo stuff for you too. Someone once told me that people live with terminal diseases all the time. Just how long they lives depends on how well its controlled, like diabetes and cystic fibrosis. I like to think that I am in control of my terminal disease, and that its not in control of me. I have also chosen a great team of specialists, that helps. Lovely to meet everyone xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joppette Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 Hi Mihalo, Ah, so glad I caught this thread. You sound like you have a terrific attitude, and that is key to surviving well. Cancer in the lung is cancer, it does not matter where it originated. So welcome here. This is a lovely community here, and you are a welcome addition. I hope and pray the subsequent treatments stop that nasty cancer it it's tracks! MI Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ts Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Just to clarify, cancer that has metastasized from the bowel to the lung is NOT lung cancer. Mihalo has that right. I can carefully read that Judy is not saying it is lung cancer, "just" cancer. But we want to keep this clear. Welcome to the site and I hope you get the assurance you need regarding the pneumonectomy and recovery. You sure do sound like you have taken this journey well to date. Best to you and yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminkw Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Mihalo, glad to hear you got connected to the right people. Yes, my case has been troublesome. I'm at MDA in Orlando which is a satellite of MDA in Houston. My onc is head of medical oncology and spent 10 years at Houston. The problem is, there has never been a visable tumor or malignancy in the lung. They identified adenocarcinoma lung cancer from analysis of the cells in the fluid removed from my lung--twice, once in the Keys and again at MDA. I'm 3b because of the pleural effusion and the malignancy in the chest wall (and now the abdomen) are considered matastisis (sp?). I don't know how much anyone knows about this kind of situation. I've put my trust for now in good people and can just hope for the best. I am doing very well myself now and am glad to hear you are too. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihalo Posted December 25, 2010 Author Share Posted December 25, 2010 Hi everyone. It has been a while since I have looked in here.Life has been so very busy. with 3 children, school and Christmas and surgery in between it all! Last time I wason here I was to have some more radiation on my right shoulder (acromion bone) met but that didn't happen.Instead I was on tablet form chemo and booked in for surgery. It took quite a number of months, but finally I had the acromion bone along with a small part of the clavicle and scapular removed with great clear margins. This had to be done before the lung as it carried no mortality rate with it, and boy oh boy was it becoming excruciatingly painful even with loads of morphine on board. So I am recovering from that at the moment but the pneumonectomy will be in Feb 2011 pending no further spread of disease on next PET scan due mid Jan. Fingers crossed I can have this pesky lung taken out and be NED for a little while at least....just long enough for me to watch my babies (aged 8,7 and 3) grow up xxoo Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all on here Cheers Mihalo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminkw Posted December 27, 2010 Share Posted December 27, 2010 So glad you checked in. Boy have you been through the mill but sounds like you are a real trooper. Best of luck as you continue on your journey. Happy New Year to you and yours. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihalo Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 Thanks Katie, I am recovering well from the shoulder surgery and have begun lung function testing etc preparing for the pneumonectomy soon. Just waiting on an appointment for a PET scan and fingers crossed it is all clear other than the lung so the op will go ahead......so prayers for a good result PLEASE! Luv and Hugs. Mihalo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric byrne Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Hi Mihalo, Wishing and Hoping and Praying as the song goes,(you are too young to remember that one),that your PET scan is good to allow your pneumonectomy to go ahead in February.Gosh we learn so much from each other here,another year or two and I think could graduate in medicine?I knew we had a clavicle and a scapula but never knew we had a acromion bone as well.Sorry to hear of your post-op pain,really hope this is now by you. One more bridge to cross in February,you can do it standing on your head.My lung surgery as you may remember was really an absolute breeze compared to all the scare stories I had heard prior to surgery,so expecting the same for you sport. May this be the end of your treatments and you go on to living life to the full with the kids and the rest of your family and friends,god knows,with what you have gone through you deserve it.I can only stand in the sidelines,with admiration of your spirit and courage,to cheer you on,best wishes and God Bless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihalo Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 Hi Eric, Katie, Judy, Judy and Mike....thank you all for posting on here and helping me in the lead up to my operation. Just wanted to come on here and tell you all that I had it done (full Left Pneumonectomy) On the 11th of Feb 2011 following a critical lung infection at the end Of january - surgeon decided there was no time to waste and it had to go or it was going to kill me. So today i am 6 weeks post op and absolutely 100% back to doing what I was before the op. I even took the kids last weekend for a bike ride to the park and back, not far, maybe a kilometre or 2 but I certainly couldn't have done it with 2 lungs as the left was soooo badly damaged from cancer. It was so bad that they actually found 11 tumors not 2....OMG that came as a shock to everyone. What also came as a shock was that during the operation I did not falter at all. My O2 sats sat on 96% and when they deflated the left lung they went UP to 97% and my heart rate dropped from 105bpm to 89 and has since dropped again at rest to 75bpm and often during my hospital stay my O2 sats were 99-100%...how crazy is that. I feel great and apart from some medialstinal shift immediately post op...that was corrected (sooo painful!), I had a trouble free recovery. I go for my 6 week check next Tues and am expecting to see some organ shift on x-ray as I have a very irritating grind against my rib cage and loads of gas after eating, and the feeling of being full all the time. I have read this can be due to stomach and intestine shift into the cavity.....will wait and see but to me it makes total sense. Well, thank you lovely people, you quashed some of my fears,and answered silly questions and gave me more confidence to do this, and now I am so so pleased I did. warmest wishes and loads of love and luck.....chat soon Michele (Mihalo) from Oz xxoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 So very good to hear how well you are doing post surgery. It is hard to come back but you have done it and with a great attitude that I know makes me feel good and makes me want to get out and try harder myself. Looks like you have made some new friends here and we look forward to hearing about your progress. Annette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminkw Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Michele, congratulations on your recovery. You really are an inspiration to anyone hesitating to have surgery. May you continue with your health and fabulous attitude and have many more bike rides with the kids. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric byrne Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Hi Michele, Just going on 2.00am Saturday,I woke up, couldnt get back to sleep,oh well,might as well go and check the mail.Well what a pleasant surprise-here you are-bright as a shiny button. First,hope Tuesday goes well,I am sure it will.I am so pleased for you,what a time of it you have gone through?please God its finished,gone forever,all you have to do now is let your body have the time to recover,and get on with life to the full with your family.Three kids? I only had the one,oh if only I could wave a majic wand and start my life over again,three kids would just perfect for me now. I hope you guys missed all the flooding in Aussieland,such terrible events one after the other this year?,New Zealand and Japan,we may get more than our fair share of rain here in Scotland but I know we have a lot to be thankful for that our weather is quite benign. Well think I will get back to bed,busy day to-day,taking my wee sisters two grand kids to Drumpellier Park today(if its not raining).Tonight my daughter Jennifer and boyfriend Chris have organised a charity fundraiser in Ivory Blacks (well known pub in Glasgow) for Yorkhill Sick Childrens Hospital,she has sold over 200 tickets,so I am looking forward to the event,no doubt she will have plans to further empty my wallet,but on the other hand,I will get to dance with all the young talent,well their view of me at 62 is, got to the age of being non- threatening harmless,just to let you know there is still a eighteen year inside me, just bursting to come out at the slightest excuse.Goodnight Michele,hope you are having a brill weekend,wonder how many hours you are in front of me?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Baker Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Congrats, Michelle! Glad to see that you have recovered so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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