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Why did you have a lobectomy? Were you told you'd be cured?
ok all, now that I think on this and see how many of you have had this surgery and then went on to chemo, etc. I am thinking. Were all of you told also that it was only in your lung and you'd be cured?!! They did a biopsy of my lymph nodes the month before and they were clear, then the lung biopsy which showed cancer. I was told I would be cured since it wasn't in my lymph nodes. Otherwise I wouldn't have done this. But then of course the nodes they took out during the lobectomy showed it had spread to them. How common is this that we are told it's only in lung and can be cured? Anyone else have this same scenario w/ biopsy of nodes first thinking you'd be 'cured'??? can't stop thinking now why so many of us had a lobectomey.....thank as usual!! learning and making decisions from you guys! julie
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I had a right lower lobectomy in April of '23 for a 2 cm adenocarcinoma and they took 13 lymph nodes at the same time. Technically, I was Stage 1a.
All were clear and I've had a scan every six months since (my next one is due next month).
I was never told I was cured, only that for the next 3 years, I get a scan every 6 months and then for the next 2 years, every year. I'm hopeful that holds! I had no chemo nor radiation after surgery either, just a bit of a struggle with a chylothorax that developed about a month after surgery. But that's all taken care of at this point.
I don't consider myself cured, only that I'm currently with no evidence of disease
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8 ReactionsI had a Lower left lobectomy in 2016 after biopsies showed one very aggressive nodule in left lobe, one sleepy one on my right lobe. Left Lung tissue sent out for biomarker testing after surgery before the drs prescribed treatment. The results came back after 2 months (yes, it takes time) and I am very lucky that I qualified for a targeted therapy which has kept me in remission for 8 years. I do CT scans every 4 months and so far so good. Still must also check the right nodule. Nothing moves quickly in this process so you need to get used to it.
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4 ReactionsI don’t think doctors ever use the “cured” word with a cancer diagnosis. They’re too cautious.
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2 ReactionsYes. Husband had LL Lobectomy
- Thoracic surgeon said clean cut.
- Pulmonologist said no need for chemo or radiation, just monitoring.
- Oncologist said need chemo. Midway thru, NSCLC showed in adrenal gland, but chemo eliminated it. CtDNA blood test showed 0% cancer. Now doing immunology for “insurance”, but petct shows small mass on back of left lung.
Lesson learned: NSCLC is never over and done.
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4 ReactionsI agree with Wahoo....drs don't use the word "cured". They may say there is no evidence of cancer shown on your scan at this time but that doesn't mean "cured". It means all looks good for today, see you in 3, 6,12 months for a follow up scan. Don't listen to "cancer free" either if someone says it. That too means at the moment. Always follow up on scans as alas, cancer really is forever. Sorry to be gloomy but.....
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5 Reactionsyes, my counselor has just recommended palliative care for me due to the condition i'm in. To help me learn whether chemo is right if i can even get well enough for that. thanks all
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1 ReactionThank you. How long was it between o cancer and small mass coming back and will he go through chemo or surgery or radiation, do you know, if the mass is cancerous? Best wishes for him!
hmmm. both my pulmonologist and oncologist have used that word. They were educated in foreign countries''maybe they don't understand the meaning completely.......
That is great! I had to look up chylothroax. Sounds like pleural effusion which I was just in the hospital for last week where they drew it out with a needle and catheter? What kind of scans? CT or PET. I guess CT. I am still absorbing all this. Counselor this morning said I was about ready for a nursing home!! Since i am not recovering well or functioning and then ordered a palliative care urgent referral. Just had lobectomy aug 6. thaks for the info. My lymphs were canceroous. How could they be sure that there were lymph nodes they didn't get that were cancereous? Like, for me, I forget how many they took out and 2-3 were cancerous--i forget. Just seems like my doctor would have ordered chemo even if i hadn't had those cancerous lymphs found in case they missed some. Just learning and thanks for sharing that with me!! all of this is helping me understand. (doctor gave me 2 side effects of chemo and sent me on my way)
So I should not agree to any of the chemo and then KEytruda yet---they wanted to start chemo this week, lobectomy done Aug 6---until I get biomarkers back?
hmmm...that is what I was thinking: how do they know how to treat until tests are back. Guess to keep it from spreading since it's in my lymph nodes and does seem to be spreading fast ---according to scans--until they get biomarkers and then they could adjust the followup after chemo, ie. Keytruda?
What does sleepy mean? That it's not growing and stable? I had one like that for years and then in from October 23 (stable) to April 2024 it went crazy growing!
So glad you are doing well!!