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Loss of voice after lung surgery

Lung Cancer | Last Active: Apr 21 7:46pm | Replies (43)
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@trudyhs

Hi Vic83. Glad to meet you and to hear of your experiences. My original pulmonary function before any surgeries was 120% and before my recent surgery it was still very good at 105%. I haven’t had a pulmonary function test yet as I’m only 6 weeks post op.
Has chemotherapy or immunotherapy ever been recommended as a adjuvant therapy for you? My first nodule removed was 5.2 cm and I was staged at 2b. I’m not sure what the staging is yet for my recent surgery. I had chemo after first surgery and I think it did more harm than good so I’m not too keen on agreeing to more. I don’t yet know a lot about immunotherapy. By the way, in all of this I’ve had many lymph nodes tested from the surgical sites as well as the mediastinal space and all have been negative.

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Replies to "Hi Vic83. Glad to meet you and to hear of your experiences. My original pulmonary function..."
vic83 | @vic83 | Apr 16 5:21pm

Hi Trudy - there is a thread for multifocal lung cancer, perhaps one of Connect mentors can move our discussion there as I don't know how.
My first VAT surgery I was a stage 1b (because over 3cm) or based on the TNM staging system it was a pT2a. My second VAT had a pT1b (smaller), however pathology said STAS present - that means "spread through air spaces". There is now a new means of spread - the tumor is "shedding" but they don't know a whole lot about it. Tumor Board chose not to give me adjuvant therapy but only put me under close observation. Where do those cells go?
They need to find a blood supply, and how long can they survive? Not much known.
Anyway all my lymph nodes have been clean and my PET scans have indicated no spread and the other notable nodules are stable so I guess one can call this type of cancer "well behaved".
I have not needed chemo because they got it all and I have no metastasis.
I have been told I am not a candidate for immunotherapy because of my episode of pneumonitis. They can't be sure that the drugs will not trigger another inflammation causing more lung scarring. My numbers are already moderate obstruction, and the last test showed a severe drop in diffusion. They need to preserve lung function to preserve quality of life. My best option going forward will be ablation.

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