Hi. I am very new to this journey. My Mother has a low grade tumour in her lower left lung. She saw a thoracic surgeon today and has been told she needs open thoracotomy to remove it. This, they have said, offers the best chance for a cure. The tumour (3cm) was picked up during a chest X ray. I want to be positive as it's very early stage, but am terrified about what the surgery means for her...survival post op and during surgery and managing her pain afterwards. She is 73, has no symptoms and currently leads a full and active life. She has no symptoms. Has anyone on this forum had this surgery and can share what it was like in terms of pain, recovery and long term ability to resume normal life thereafter. Thank you for listening. Heather
New diagnosis. Thoracotomy to remove low grade non-small cell lung tumour. - 1269283
heathergonefishing
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Reply # - April 22, 2015, 12:07 PM
Hi Heather,
Hi Heather,
I'm so sorry your mother is in this position but as I think you already know the early stage of her cancer is a very fortunate place to be in the scheme of things. One of the first important points I'd like to make is, there is a broad range of outcomes to open thoracotomies so it would be inappropriate to use social media to determine how difficult this surgery might be. However there are large studies that have looked at issues such as those you've asked about because they are very important. It's been shown very clearly that the best outcomes come from surgeons who do only thoracic surgery (dedicated thoracic surgeon). This excludes cardiothoracic surgeons who do a lot of heart surgery and some thoracic surgery and general surgeons who do even fewer thoracic surgeries. An open thoracotomy is one of the most difficult surgeries to perform and recover from so it's most important to have someone who does this exclusively. I feel I may have gone overboard getting this point across but my husband is one of the few who still has a lot of pain from surgery 6 years out which is combined with damage from the tumor. His surgeon was a cardiothoracic and I didn't understand at the time the magnitude of difference this could make and we'll never know if it did. Your mother may need to go to a larger research or teaching hospital to see a dedicated thoracic surgeon but his or her experience will help put to rest these questions.
It depends on the location of the tumor as well. Some are easier to get to than others. Many resections are done via VATS (video assisted thoracoscopic surgery) which is a much less invasive process with less recovery. Again it depends on the location and size of the tumor.
A second opinion by a dedicated thoracic surgeon is never a bad thing if she's not being seen by one already.
Continued...
Reply # - April 22, 2015, 12:19 PM
If she's already being seen
If she's already being seen by a dedicated thoracic surgeon it may help you and her to ask these question of him/her. There are many very good reasons why your mother may need this surgery in the nearer future than later, the best of which is to catch the cancer before it spreads or grows too large to resect as easily as is now. On the other hand it's possible that the tumor is very slow growing (which is common in older adults and in low grade tumors) and won't cause a problem anytime soon. If that's the case the only way to know that is to wait and see what it does in a month or 6 weeks.
I didn't mention in the prior post that many many people do very well and recover quickly from these surgeries.
I hope this is helpful and you mother does very well.
Janine