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Lung resection at 70: Anyone want to share their recovery experience?

Posted by espiritu56 @espiritu56, Apr 4 9:58am

Greetings. Looking at a lung resection coming up. I have a good health baseline. I’m 70. Has anyone had this procedure at our age of wisdom, aka Senior? How was your experience and recovery experience? I’m at MD Anderson which of course is amongst the best at what they do. Thanks for the input.

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juliab56 | @juliab56 | 4 days ago

Hi, I am 69 year old female and had left pneumonectomy in Dec 2026, per thoracotomy surgery. I am in good health.
I was very afraid going through the surgery. And worried about how my breathing would be and how I would be able to continue with activities I like to do.
Mine was more extensive due to mass location. I had an excellent surgeon so I felt I was in good hands.
I am now at post op #15 week and starting to feel good and glad I made the choice to do the surgery which was recommended by the tumor team.
Best wishes to you.

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Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | 4 days ago
In reply to @spotteddog "I just had robotic lung resection surgery a month ago at age 73. Part of the..." + (show)
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I just had robotic lung resection surgery a month ago at age 73. Part of the upper right lobe was removed along with a piece of midsection and six lymph nodes. I spent one night in the hospital. The first few days were a little rough but it's been three weeks and it's getting much better other than not lifting anything heavy for at least another week. I had pulmonary testing pre surgery to ensure I could handle the surgery. I am really glad I went through it as the nodule was found go be an adenocarcinoma putting me at stage 1b NSCLC. Hopefully the surgery will take care of that.

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Welcome @spotteddog, it is great that you are doing so well, and that the nodule was identified early. Wishing you continued success in your recovery. Was your nodule identified through a lung screening program, or incidentally from some other ailment? How large was the nodule that led to the surgery?

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spotteddog | @spotteddog | 4 days ago
In reply to @lls8000 "Welcome @spotteddog, it is great that you are doing so well, and that the nodule was..." + (show)
Profile picture for Lisa, Volunteer Mentor @lls8000

Welcome @spotteddog, it is great that you are doing so well, and that the nodule was identified early. Wishing you continued success in your recovery. Was your nodule identified through a lung screening program, or incidentally from some other ailment? How large was the nodule that led to the surgery?

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@lls8000 thank you Lisa! The nodule was found incidentally when I went for a CAT scan for pain in my right side. ( which turned out to be a small hiatal hernia) I actually didn't qualify for lung screening. It was an 8mm nodule on the scan. The tumor that was removed was 3.1 cm. I have an upcoming appt with the oncologist but it appears that it may be egfr positive with exon 19 deletion. (I am definitely learning new things)

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Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | 2 days ago
In reply to @spotteddog "@lls8000 thank you Lisa! The nodule was found incidentally when I went for a CAT scan..." + (show)
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@lls8000 thank you Lisa! The nodule was found incidentally when I went for a CAT scan for pain in my right side. ( which turned out to be a small hiatal hernia) I actually didn't qualify for lung screening. It was an 8mm nodule on the scan. The tumor that was removed was 3.1 cm. I have an upcoming appt with the oncologist but it appears that it may be egfr positive with exon 19 deletion. (I am definitely learning new things)

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@spotteddog , It's good to hear that they ran the biomarker testing. There is a lot to learn, and it's going to feel overwhelming, but you'll get through it. Knowing what's driving the cancer, EGFR w/ exon 19 deletion, will help to know how to treat the cancer. Let us know how the oncology appointment goes, and what they recommend. Hugs.

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