No date for surgery yet. Questions

[Maryloumoo]

Hello everyone! I do not have a surgery date yet. Surgeon said in a couple of weeks or so.  The waiting is definitely making me even more anxious. 
I was told this surgeon will do a robotic ( DaVinci) surgery.  The idea is to do the wedge resection, do the biopsy and if it’s cancer, lobectomy. I’m sure everyone is familiar with that, but I don’t see a lot of RATS talked about here.  I see VATS and I know they’re very similar however, what are the differences and do they matter or weigh on overall recovery? 
I will speak with the surgeon again before surgery I’m sure BUT haha I was told I’d stay a day in hospital. He never said if he actually does the lobectomy of I’ll stay longer. This is very important for me to know beforehand. I smoke, believe it or not- I know- stupid. If I stop now and have two weeks before surgery will that help? I have COPD and type two diabetes. Anyone else?   
also, there is a chance this is not cancer. My pelvic cancer pathology mentioned that the tumor was positive for perineural invasion. Rare but lucky me! No one has been able to educate me much on this but I know it’s not good. I am almost four years out from chemo and rads. What else, other nodules treat aren’t cancer can grow? Have any of you ever heard of such? I realize I am all over the place here. Apologies! I am just very scared so much that I have hives now. Ugh. 
thanks for reading.  I appreciate you all! 

[WalkingHorse]

Hey there again! I had a RATS lobectomy (upper right, 1 lobe) last fall. I was shocked at how quickly I recovered despite the fact that one of my ribs was broken in the process of removing the tumor. I had a two night three day stay. I was up and walking the hallways the very next day after surgery. The only reason I stayed as long as I did was to get the drainage to stop (this is typical). The drain they insert was to me the most uncomfortable part of the whole process. Not super bad but it did annoy the heck out of me. My surgeon told me that he prefers the RATS if the situation warrants but he always examines the proposed cuts to see if he approves before he lets the robot do its thing.

Please try to ease your mind a bit. You're on the road and getting things handled. The unknown is so scary and every day you will be filling in those blanks with gained knowledge of your situation. 

Not going rag on you about smoking but I would look into quitting options if you are open to that. It will help in the healing process. 

Best,

Kimberly

[Tom Galli]

Marylou,

I might suggest a heroic effort to stop smoking starting now. The inside of your lung tissue will be extremely irritated as a result of your surgery and adding any kind of smoke to the equation will yield intense discomfort and hyper-intense coughing.

Stay the course.

Tom

[Maryloumoo]

As usual, you all come through. I am quitting. I wanted to anyway so no time like the present.  I definitely want every good option that will help me recover.  You guys are the best! Thanks!