Wedge resection question

[Cin]

I haven't posted for a while. My surgeon called me today and I will be having a wedge resection (VATs) in April.  Assuming all goes well, can anyone share how long it took to recover? I am lucky to be working from home (computer-desk work).

Also I'm worried because I live alone and won't have any physical help beyond a friend coming in each day to feed my two cats since I probably can't bend over -- can I recover alone?

Thank you all so much.

cindy

[LexieCat]

I recovered alone. My cousin did come out to stay with me a couple weeks after surgery, but by then I was doing pretty well and could have managed (though I appreciated the company and she did help with a few chores).

You probably won't even have trouble bending over--the tiny incisions will be in your chest/side. It's not like having abdominal surgery. Coughing will hurt (helps to use a pillow). I didn't need any pain meds stronger than ibuprofen once I got through the first 2-3 days. And I was back at my (mostly) desk job about 3 weeks after surgery.

I was out to dinner and a concert with friends a couple of weeks after surgery.  Member Lou put together a nice list of tips and tricks for surgery here: https://forums.lungevity.org/topic/47249-thoracic-surgery-tips-and-tricks/  The two things that helped me most were getting a wedge pillow for sleeping and making sure I did my breathing exercises religiously. 

 

[Jesse L.]

Well I had a lobectomy by VATS and while it's a bit more involved than a wedge resection I was able to do most everything a week out from surgery. Then again though there is still even a month later some pain involved. The only thing I took for the pain was Tylenol (can't or I should say won't take oxy-causes bad digestive juju). In any case you should be good on your own; anything you can't do can wait till you can...

[Cin]

Lexus and Jessie, thank you both!  I will re-read the tips, and already bought a wedge pillow.  I am very relieved to know I can recover alone, I don't like to rely on anyone.  But my blood friend lives in my condo building and will check on me daily.

I can do this ....

[Cin]

Lexie, sorry, damn autocorrect

[TJM]

Cin

I think you can get by alone but have someone check in often.

They will try to run you out of the hospital as fast as they can. If I was you and didnt have 24hr support at home, I would stay in the hospital a few days. Dont leave till you have a good BM. They cannot argue that point.

You will handle the surgery well. I am so glad you qualify. I expect my cancer to return, but at this point I am NED....thanks to surgery.

Peace

Tom

[LexieCat]

I have a little bit different take--I, personally, would not stay in the hospital any longer than necessary. I DID have a complication (air leaking into tissues under skin)  and had to be re-admitted to be deflated with a chest tube (just 3-4 days). That's pretty unusual, though--an issue that generally resolves on its own. Even though it was unpleasant having to go back in, if I had it to do over I still would have gone home, since my surgeon felt it was safe to do so (with instructions to call if the swelling from the air leak--AKA crepitus or subcutaneous emphysema) got worse. If it weren't for that, I would have done just fine after 2 days in the hospital.

Under normal conditions, at that time, I might go days between BMs--I sure wouldn't want to stay in the hospital  that long. They're great places to pick up an infection. 

[Jesse L.]

I had my lobectomy surgery on Thursday and while I was expected to go home on Saturday I opted to stay in the hospital an extra day. Once again that oxycodon thing crept up on me and I was finally able to have a BM on Sunday (after a well placed suppository-never again!). In the wing of the hospital I was in there were rooms for 20 plus patients and when I was there there was only 3 patients total including myself. There were twice as many nurses as patients. My care was very good...

[TJM]

There you go...this board is awesome! Even tho you may get somewhat different takes, they all come from PATIENTS, not doctors.

I have such a great support group at home that I was discharged next day. Actually went home with a catheter (dumb move on my part). I totally get Lexi's take (and she is smarter than I), but I will tell you that first BM was a struggle. I gladly did two suppositories to, well, get the chit moving.

In the end it will always be a foggy memory and there is no one right answer.

The important thing is your getting the surgery! The rest is minor details.

Best of luck

Tom

[LouT]

Cin,

I really don't know your status as far as Medicare (retirement) or not.  But, if you have Medicare your doctor can prescribe home care follow up.  I did that in my case and the nurse would come by every day for the first week, take my vitals, change a dressing and provide feedback on how to recover well.  Then I remember her coming by a few more times and I was then on my own.  But, it was helpful and easy to do.  Of course if you're not on Medicare you'd need to check and see if your insurance provides for any home-health care.

Hope this helps.

Lou

[Cin]

Thank you for your responses. My surgery is this Friday, April 23rd. I am lucky that my surgeon is with Dana Farber at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth MA.

I'm nervous, not scared so much, more like I'm realizing I could die sooner than expected.  I don't mean during surgery, I mean in general; and I don't mean this in a morbid way either.  It's more like ... Holy shi_!  It's the same reaction I had when I was in a train crash ~12 years ago -- all my senses went through the roof and I thought "This can't be real" ....

I would like to know more about recovery ... Can I reach up to my cabinets for a coffee cup, can I bend over to put a bowl of cat food on the floor?

[LexieCat]

The reaching might be a little difficult for a week or two--at first, use the side where you didn't have surgery--but it will get progressively easier and soon you'll be moving around with no problem.

Yeah, I think we all experience that "brush with mortality" feeling. For me, it reminded me that I don't want to leave a mess for my family--however long I have left. A year, or 20-30. It just made me more conscious of what might have to be handled after I'm gone and trying to make it less stressful/burdensome on them. Something everyone should do, whatever their age, but the necessity becomes more real when you have a serious diagnosis of any kind. For me, doing some of that stuff lifted a certain amount of worry off my shoulders. 

[Cin]

Lexie, I hope to retire at 65 (I'll be 62 in June), sell my condo, buy a 24-foot RV, and travel full time. There are so many National forests, parks, and land owned by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) you can stay for free (I will need solar for that). This might make me speed up .y plans, but on the other hand I need a good medical plan. I currently work at MIT and have BCBS which is hard to beat.

Thanks for responding, you seem like a wonderful person.

Cindy

[LexieCat]

That sounds like a great plan. 

If there's one thing I learned as a result of being diagnosed again with Stage IV last year (three years after my surgery), it's that it pays not to wait too long to do the things you love. During my three "free" years I took some great vacations--including an amazing trip to Vietnam--and went to a lot of concerts and theater productions. Between the new diagnosis and the lockdown, not sure when I'll get to do those things again, but sure glad I did them when I could!

[ChiMama]

Hi Cin - I'll add another voice to your thread here. 😊 I had a RATS (Robotic VATS) upper left lobectomy last summer. They tell you not to drive for 2 or 3 weeks (depending on who is giving the instructions) so I had family pick me up from the hospital, and take me places when I needed to go for appointments or whatever. Other than that I recovered at home by myself. They also tell you not to lift more than 5/10 pounds or even vacuum, which gave me incentive to get everything done before I went to the hospital.

I also bought snacks, pre-made meals, protein drinks, bottled juices, and a bunch of frozen fruit & veggies so I'd have a selection ready.  I put all the things I thought I might need to use on top of the counters instead of in the cabinets, in anticipation of not being comfortable reaching or pulling some of the heavier things out. As it turned out, getting all but the heaviest things out of the cabinets wasn't very difficult after the first couple of days. I also had my dog stay with my mother for 3 weeks to avoid the temptation of lifting her or her jumping on my chest which she does regularly.  That was hard because she's such an emotional comfort to me!

I got the wedge pillow too which helped. I had an unusual experience in that trying to get up from a reclined position caused extreme pain no matter how I tried to do it. The pain was mostly in the wounds where the drainage tubes were, not the surgical incisions.  So I got a barcalounger and slept in it so I could just push a button and be upright, then use my hands to push myself up without involving any of the torso muscles.

Lou posted some tips that are really helpful, you may have already seen it but here is a link: https://forums.lungevity.org/topic/47249-thoracic-surgery-tips-and-tricks/.  One other thing for the hospital is to bring an extension cord to plug in your phone. Some hospital beds these days have built-in electrical and even USB but the hospitals near me don't, and the outlets are always behind and out of reach of the bed.  And of course, do your walking and breathing exercises.

Will keep you in positive thoughts!

 

[Cin]

Thank you ChiMama.

I have a recliner and wedge pillow. I thought about putting things on my counter, but I have two cats and of course they would smack each item until it falls.  I have lots of frozen dinners and decided to stock up on cereal (I normally stay away from cereal and do low-carb).  I have a big to-do list for tomorrow ... Take out trash, clean, vacuum, color my hair-- then I'll be leaving Friday at 6:30 am for surgery.

The is for your comments

[Cin]

On and my other plan is to NOT go toward the light (if I see one)

[LexieCat]

Hey, Cin,

I may be right behind you. I just signed a consent for a clinical trial that will involve a wedge resection (via VATS) to remove a sample of my tumor. It's not to treat the cancer, but just to get the tissue needed for the custom treatment they're gonna make.

So going back under the knife, but with the same surgeon who did my lobectomy (AND inserted my port three years later). Best doctor I've ever had. I always joked he can cut me open anytime--I just didn't know I'd have the chance to have him take me up on it!

[Cin]

LexieCat,

 

I just read your update and I'm so sorry you have to go through this.  But you sound strong and will have everyone here pulling for you.

[LouT]

Cin,

My daughter just bought a feeder for her two cats and it works like a dream.  She can put enough food for close to a week and you can then set it for multiple feedings and even snacks.  She also has a "cat fountain" that can hold a few days water and keeps it moving (apparently cats like that).  I'm just saying that tools like this can take a lot off your plate if you're concerned about caring for them.  Again, she got both off of Amazon.

Lou