Pain after robotic assisted lobectomy: How long does it last?

@mybestdog00, I hope your pain has decreased by now. Did you learn any more after your appointment? What did pathology show about the nodule? How are you feeling about the treatment/monitoring plan going forward?

I had a right lower lobectomy on July 11th and I can’t even stand for shirt to touch my skin and my right nipple is extremely tender and burns. It hurts from there down to bottom of rib cage and feels like muscle spasms. I feel like there is a bulge under rib cage. I guess all of this is normal but I have a high tolerance for pain. When I had my gallbladder removed I was hanging wallpaper the next day. I always bounce back quickly from surgery so this is different for sure. Does anyone else have these symptoms. I am taking gabapentin at bedtime, celebrex and muscle relaxer for pain. I don’t take narcotics because they make me mean and I don’t like that. Just wondering if this is par for the course. I hope everyone feels better soon! Thanks

This coming Friday will be 3 weeks for me, right lower lobectomy robotics as well. I was hoping I would improve faster. Sometimes I feel like I have a band tied very tight where my bra fits, I can’t stand for even a shirt to touch skin from nipple down to bottom of rib cage. I feel like there is a bulge under rib cage and have muscle spasms. Is this what you are experiencing? I guess the bottom line is our procedure was a little more than we expected at least mine was. I hope you feel better soon, really soon. My doctor said by 3 month follow up, patients are usually doing well.

@grandma01, Ouch!, that sounds hard to tolerate. It sounds like your doctor has addressed the pain, but you may want to reach out to them again if this continues, and to note the bulge that you mentioned. Your surgery was still fairly recent, and those nerves can take some time to settle down. Is the pain continuing? Has your doctor had a chance to address it at all, have you reached out? What have they said?

I had a right lower lobectomy 11 months ago. I’m still having rib pain, the rib bones hurt. I was told it just takes time.

@grandma01 I’m curious if your nerve pain has settled down at all. I had an upper right lobectomy on August 11th and feel exactly as you described. My right side feels scalded and clothing touching my breast or nipple is torture. I was given Gabapentin on Friday (now Sunday, Sept 14), so I’m hoping it will start to help.

12 weeks ago I had lower left robotic Segmentectomy not lobectomy but similar. Your recovery experience sounds like mine but of course everyone is different. The healing ability of the body is incredible and I hope you get some relief soon. My discomfort particularly while sleeping went beyond 5 weeks and beyond the narcotic time frame. Tightness in the diagram across mid section was present for several weeks. The nerve discomfort and sleep struggles continued to approximately 7 weeks and I took gabapentin the entire 7 weeks after surgery. It was helpful for sleeping. Luckily I had no burning or skin discomfort. By 9 weeks I was feeling healed with no pain. My core abdominal muscles on left are definitely weakened and I am working to get those back to strong. Best wishes in your recovery.

@dwcar Thanks so much. That’s really helpful. I’m heartened to know the Gabapentin was temporary. Hopefully that will apply to me too.

@dwcar,
I had my first VAT LLL wedge resection at Mayo in April 2024 to remove a nodule stat was stage 1 a adenocarcinoma, and a second VATs wedge resection 3 weeks ago to removal a 1.7 cm noncancerous Desmoid in my left pleural space.

My first surgery I recovered fully in about 3 months. I took a few pain pills in the hospital , but I stopped taking them when I returned home. Right now,
I have neuropathy type pain symptoms across my chest and abdomen. I saw my physical therapist a few days after surgery and she gave me exercises to do at home. My attitude toward my recovery is to keep moving and stay busy with projects. I am outside gardening, stretching and lifting less than 10 lb, which is my weight restriction. I still have pain, but moving and stretching helps. I also find a heating pad helpful at night.

I started taking Alpha Lipoic Acid 600 mg daily which was recommended for my neurologist for peripheral neuropathy in my feet. My foot pain went away overtime, but numbness remains. I am hoping the Alpha Lipoic will help my neuropathy pain from this surgery.