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Sucess


TJM

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All,

First. Surgery went very well. Surgeon is confident he got all of it. He is referring me to oncology. That's all I could get from my wife. Surgeon debriefed her because it took me a little longer than he expected to come out of general anesthesia.

Best I can pull together is that surgery was textbook, did take out some lymph nodes and no complications.

Ate my first meal and finished it all. Took a lap around the ward so I can now use the bathroom without assistance. Blown in the tube. Tried to do it a bit too hard last time....so remembering all the good advice....I asked for more painkillers and all good now.

The tumor was actively producing hormones so they added another drug. Surgeon said I may notice some symptoms I was having go away. That's a good thing. 

Though I do not know the actual dimensions my wife said he said it was the size of a grape fruit.

Concerns:

Referral to an oncologist (not big)

The size of the beast. That concerns me.

Assume someone will come talk to me in the morning. If not I will track someone down.

Got a new wireless headset so plan is to listen to some old rock music,  trip on some opioids and worry about tomorrow tomorrow. Just like in college.

Love ya all

Peace

Tom

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There you go! That’s the spirit!  A note on tumor size- it’s counterintuitive in lung cancer. Size is almost irrelevant, unbelievable.  Big tumors can stay put and little tumors can be very sneaky.  There’s no correlation between tumor size and outcome.  For some reason many of the folks I’ve met had pretty large tumors at Stage III.  I learned about this from the Lung Cancer Living Room on YouTube. 
Glad to hear the surgery went so well. 

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11 hours ago, Rower Michelle said:

There you go! That’s the spirit!  A note on tumor size- it’s counterintuitive in lung cancer. Size is almost irrelevant, unbelievable.  Big tumors can stay put and little tumors can be very sneaky.  There’s no correlation between tumor size and outcome.  For some reason many of the folks I’ve met had pretty large tumors at Stage III.  I learned about this from the Lung Cancer Living Room on YouTube. 
Glad to hear the surgery went so well. 

My wife met with the surgeon and I think she got the size wrong (obvious joke here). 

Didnt follow Curts advice and over did it a bit last night and they are being stingy with the drugs. I'll get that fixed though today....no reason for me to be in pain right? Plus the more I blow into that thing faster I go home.

Surgeon did tell me before the surgery that the tumor was releasing hormons. I actually feel better...if they would just give me the correct dosage for the pain pills.

Peace

Tom

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Yay for you ! I thought of you yesterday when I was at Kaiser Sunnyside for a consultation on one of my other (non-lung) cancers.. I sent you some good vibes at close range. It sounds like you're doing great. Don't  overdo it, though. Keep us posted. 

tBridget

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Hey Tom...so glad to hear that your surgery went as expected and you had a good outcome.  I'm with you, take the meds, listen to the old rock (which I call the good rock) and relax.  Looking forward to hearing that you are discharged, then getting around more and such.  Keep us updated.

Lou

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Going to be discharged tonight. Might as well suffer at home. Only pain now is the incisions. Funny how pain is layered. Got a bunch of relief when they pulled the drain........then noticed the pain around the incisions. Hoping it only lasts for a few days and slowly gets better.

Peace

Tom

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Wow Tom. You may be setting records on being discharged.  The pains will last for a while but are controllable with the meds you’ll get.  I still have some burning in my incisions and I’m8 months part my surgery but it’s not so bad.  Keep moving, using the spirometer, stay elevated in breed and rest do you keep on healing well.  By two weeks I was feeling pretty good considering the surgery.  
Lou

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One interesting thing I noticed. Bit of background..the surgeon I talked to basically challenged me to man up and discharge and I'm the kind of guy who likes a good mental challenge.

Anyway...it was probably stupid to discharge so early, especially since I still couldn't clear my bladder ( no clue why) so left with a catheter. Two observations 

1. I had sharp stinging pain up high and mid back when we left. My son picked us up in his crappy car because I was actually planning on one more night. Anyway, the rough ride was not very fun the first 20 miles...but then the stining pain just went away. Still gone. Almost like the jostle of the ride "settled" the two lobes that are left. What ever the reason I am very grateful that type of pain is gone.

2. By having a catheter it relieves any pressure from my bladder. The pain in my lower back was noticeably better..and came back when I woke up with a full bag.

Resting very comfortably right now watching the stock market. Feel like I could jump up and play a round of golf.....until I get up that is.

Not suggesting people should rush discharge, drive home in a crappy car 60 miles and get a catheter but......

Peace

Tom

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That is a quick discharge.  Could the pain be kidney stones?

 

I had my surgery done in NYC. They discharged me right around rush hour in February.  My normal one hour drive was three.  Between the traffic and pot holes it made for an interesting ride.  I made sure to have them hop me up on narcotics before I left, leaned back in the seat and just tried not to move.  It was a long three hours.  It gets better quickly.  Hang in there.  

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Curt. The pain was from a full bladder. First straight catheter filled 1500 mills. RN only had a 1000 mil container. Actually pretty funny watching him scurry around. No idea why I couldn't urinate but probably a response to the morphine. Right now I like having the catheter....dont have to get up except to drain the bag.

BTW...I wanted to respond to the women whose husband wants to stop treatment. Lost my older brother in the late 90's to Lung Cancer with home hospice. It was not planned very well and he suffered way more than he should have. The advice to plan and be honest was spot on.

Peace

Tom

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Hey Tom - so impressed with your quick release! When I had my lobectomy, I was there for 6 days. I did have an interesting med combo so I really didn't care where I was. I will tell you that - almost 4 years later - I have permanent nerve damage. Hoped it would improve over time but no such luck. I've not seen many others mention this but I had terrible spasms. They weren't muscle spasms - something different - that were painful and would take my breath away. They lasted for about 3 months and then just stopped. 

Keep working the spirometer and keep up your great attitude. Enjoy the good tunes as you recover.

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