When I was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer I also had to have several thoracentesis'. I had pleural catheters placed and did the draining at home. I was fortunate that it didn't cause me any discomfort and my husband did a great job of draining them. I had one catheter in for 8 months and one in for over a year. The last one was removed when my lung had several loculated places and the drain was not able to collect fluid. I felt so much better once the fluid was under control.