How was your pain after a lobectomy?

great news. rlf66

I am currently still in the hospital - it is Thursday and my lobectomy was on Monday. I can honestly say, for me, there was very little pain at all. I have had some nerve pain (Gabapentin) and the sensation that there is a tube inside you is sort of creepy but for me, it doesn't hurt. Good Luck!

@rcerwin3 , I'm assuming that you are home now, and hopefully the dreaded tube is out. Are you still feeling ok? What stage/type is your cancer?

Hey Lisa, I am home and the tube is out. It's so weird....nothing about the surgery or the tube removal or any of this has caused me any pain. I am walking and doing my breathing exercised and anxiously awaiting (STILL) my pathology report. I am so afraid I am going to see it on MyChart and not be able to not look at it. I know I won't understand it and shouldn't but I am just so anxious....so I don't know my stage. My type is adenocarcinoma.

I had partial removal of a lower right lobe. It was 6 weeks yesterday. I only take 2 Tylenol at night unless I have overexerted or on a bumpy road for too long. I still have pain, but I see improvements everyday. Yesterday was being better able to reach overhead and side to side with less pain and put some weight in lifting, pushing and pulling. I use a lot of pillows in the car and at night and that seems to help. Late in the day, I will still get that "rubbing on a severe sunburn" style pain on my right breast and a "roped me and is tightening the rope" around my front mid-drift. It was a "someone cinched the saddle too tight" almost all day long. I can see something improve everyday but some days more energy than others. We are designed to heal and I am daily thankful for every little success. Celebrating the success, regardless of how small, everyday has really helped me to the next day! The last time I spoke to the surgical team, they said there could be residual pain that lasts 2-3 months. I have started a once a week 1 lb weight routine. I started out with one rep and last week I did 3. Hope this helps. I truly believe you will heal!

My journey with RLL lobectomy is very similar to yours so far. It's been 3 months ago since. appreciating the small improvements every day was very important in giving me reassurance the recovery is heading the right way. The burning pain in areas such as across upper abdomen, diaphragm areas where perhaps there were nerve damage (neuropathy) where the most troublesome (some days debilitating) took the longest to go away. I refrained from taking pain medications for this issue unless it was to the extreme. Used Tylenol of Motrin. Found warm or cold pads helped divert the sensation away from the real pain. During the day I walked around with the pad tucked in my pants or banded around my waist. At night I slept withe the warm or cold compress on. I did this for a few weeks and to my surprise the pain went away. I'm on my 13 weeks post op. now and I feel I'm almost at baseline.
So so grateful for posting experiences like these. everyone's journey is very individualized but knowing it gets better with time. Continue with exercises as you see fit. Don't overdo and be patient. Believe me, your body will let you know when to make adjustments.
What's the next plan for you after surgery?
Wish you all the best and God bless.

@lls8000 Mine was a 2.3 cm. adenocarcinoma in the right lower lung. All nodes negative (29 of them) and wide margins. My surgeon said at my follow up with him last Wednesday that CT scans every 6 months. That is not ok with me. My tumor itself (and I know it is out but what did it do and sneak out before it was out) was LVI+ and had 15% micropapillary. (Anyone heard of these things? All I know if they aren't positive.) So I am meeting with an oncologist tomorrow and hopefully along with my EXTREME anxiety he will put me on a shorter time period between CT's. My surgeon just brushed it off. I will not.

Sorry to hear you are suffering from this but great thing is that it was taken out before it got larger. I believe yours is still stage 1. From what I understand this is very good, even if it is later found somewhere. The initial stage does not change and the medical literature about statistics is always based on the initial stage, not any restaging. So your prognosis would still be really good. It is important to get peace of mind and asking doctors is definitely the way to go. I suggest getting more opinions from different doctors. Micropapillary is the structure or pattern of the cells. 15% means that 15% of the tumor cells were arranged in micropapillary pattern . LVI+ would mean there is lymphatic vessel invasion and means the pathology has confirmed it has reached lymphatic vessel.

I am going this Friday for open lobectomy of the right upper lobe. I am terrified of the pain. The VATS segmentectomy was really easy for me, I spent less than 24 hours in the hospital from the start of the surgery and the next day I was already walking on the hills. I know the surgeon is super experienced but it still doesn't help me with the fear of the pain. He said the difference between VATS and open lobectomy is theoretical in terms of pain. I was told not concern myself with the pain and that it is most important that he can have easy access. Typically his international patients spend 5 days before flying out of the country. I hope I am similar. I wish I could spend 5 days in coma and wake up feeling less pain. I'm 39 years old so I hope that is another benefit for speedier recovery.

GEEZ.....39 years old? I am so sorry. I do not really know how they do an open lobectomy but my heart aches for you as you probably don't want to know more than you have to either. I hope whatever they are going after they get and that this is the last of these surgeries for you. That's an awful lot for your age. I'll be thinking about you. Let us know how you are.