Mamavaso

[Mamavaso]

Hi all!

I had VATS surgery January 6th for a highly suspicious spot on a PET scan. Path in surgery didn’t think wedge was cancerous so they stitched me up. A week later path report said nsclc, solid poorly differentiated, grade 3. On January 27th vats for resection of L lower lobe. They “got it all”. 
I’m 2 1/2 mo. out with a band of pain (at bra band level ), that has passed mid line both front and back of my body as well as pressure in center of chest, pain in lower shoulder blade, lower front ribs, tingling in armpit, numbness and tenderness at the same time with all those areas, bloated stomach, and pain with deep breathing sometimes breathing altogether. The pain is there always but worse if I do something other than sit.  Surgeon sent me to pain management. First tried gabapentin then lyrica now wants to do chemical ablation. The ablation scares me but I can’t live with all this pain. Has anyone done the ablation?? Also has anyone been diagnosed with is particular nsclc? There’s not a lot of research to read about it 

[LexieCat]

Hi there, and welcome. Sorry you're dealing with pain--I've heard of others who had difficulty with post-surgical pain, but fortunately mine was gone a short time after surgery. I'm not familiar with chemical ablation for pain. Maybe someone else here has knowledge about that--I just haven't heard it mentioned here.

You asked who had experience with this "particular" nsclc. You really haven't described any particular type. "Poorly differentiated" and "grade 3" just describes how the cells look under a microscope. Poorly differentiated cells are usually a bit more aggressive than well-differentiated, but it doesn't seem to be that important in terms of how the cancer is treated. Types of nsclc include adenocarcinoma, squamous cell, and a few rarer types. Have they given you a Stage for your cancer? I would assume they sampled lymph nodes during surgery--were those all clear of cancer? Is your oncologist recommending any adjuvant chemo or other treatment, aside from surgery?

Glad you found us--this is a great place for information and support.

[Tom Galli]

Mamavaso,

Welcome here.

Post surgical pain--you've had two in close area and time proximity, and that is likely the cause of your pain. I had three open thoracotomies, the first to remove my right lung and two subsequent to address a bronchus fistula. That was 17 years ago and unfortunately I still have pain. My doctors believe the root cause of my pain is extensive nerve damage in the plane of incisions. I've tried both gabapentin and lyrica that did not work for me. Here is more information about my chronic surgical pain journey that might have mitigation strategies for you. I've not encountered chemical ablation as a pain mitigation strategy. In addition to telling us your type of lung cancer, might you explain the details of this procedure. 

Stay the course.

Tom

[LouT]

Mamavaso,

Welcome to our forum.  Pain is such a personal thing.  It can depend on a number of things from location of the surgical incisions as well as the process used (VATS vs. J-Incision).  In my case I had a lobectomy of the lower-right lobe and had some very strong pain after the surgery.  But I kept doing all I could to keep it reduced (taking meds are prescribed,  using care in my activities, etc.)  Within a week after release I was put on a combination of high-dose Ibuprofen (Advil) and Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and I was shocked how well it worked, and all that without the side-effects normally experienced using opiates (drowsiness, constipation, etc.).  My advice is to sit with your doctor and explain the situation and see if another med combination or specific drug may be more effective in your case.  

And, like Tom, I'd like to hear more about your type of cancer and procedure details.

Lou

[TJM]

Welcome. Your side effects sound very similar to mine. Mine have all gradually gone away except for the pain in my side. Also, for some reason all of my joints hurt...this is relatively new (but I did have a PE and also I appear to have something going on with my thyroid). Best thing for me is that bloated feeling is almost gone!

Oxy did help my pain if that means anything. The others you mentioned were less effective than Tylenol.

Peace

Tom

[Jesse L.]

Now I certainly can honestly state that I have never heard of "ablation" before but I looked it up as you can too. As I tell everyone you have to learn all you can so you can be your best health advocate and therefore make the best decisions you can concerning your health care.

From what I learned there are many types of ablation; electric, chemical, hot, and cold ablation. Ablation simply constitutes the attempt to permanently shut down the particular nerves leading to your brain whereby you register pain. It is kind of looked upon as a last ditch effort in pain management. Note that I stated attempt at shutting down the particular nerves as it can happen where even with ablation the nerve may regenerate and the pain will return. That's why you have to know all you can before you make the ever important decisions concerning your care; you're the one who has to live with the consequences.

While none of us in these forums is a medical professional, just know that we will always try to make you actually consider what is in your best interests. Ask many,many questions of your medical team and demand the pros and cons of any of their suggestions. You'll find in this game that there is always good and bad to any treatment, most especially in the treatments concerning cancer. A tough opponent requires hard decisions and sometimes harsh treatments as well.

Stay in the fight for the best life you can have and stay in touch... We'll be there to support you any way we can.