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Brian -- I really sorry that you had such a terrible experience with this surgery and are in constant pain. I can't even imagine. Your posts have really helped me to trust my instincts that I don't want this surgery now or at all unless my floating diaphragm is causing something life-threatening. Thank you! When I first talked to the thoracic surgeon, he said there were 2 ways they could do the surgery -- through my stomach, which would lead to a two day recovery period in the hospital, or through my side, which would lead to a five-day recovery period in the hospital. The latter was a total red flag that this wasn't a walk in the park. I had brain surgery and treatment for bleeding ulcers at Mayo that resulted in two separate hospital stays of five days each and was a pretty miserable sick puppy. At my age, I don't just bounce back. I had debilitating headaches for two years, chronic fatigue, and two bouts of depression where I learned to pace myself and be happy for what I could do. That will bode well for me in this situation, even though I will make every effort to improve my breathing. Being a reformed type A personality, I learned the concept of enough and whatever I could do was enough...particularly in dealing with blinding headaches. From doing my own research on headaches, I found they were being caused by aspartame...a packet of equal in my coffee in the morning and a diet coke in the afternoon. When I eliminated them from my diet, the headaches stopped. What a blessing not to be in constant pain. I wish the same blessing for you. Are you near a clinic that has a program to help people deal with chronic pain? If you haven't tried that route, I hope you will. Was your surgery through your side or stomach? Take care... I'll let you know what the doctor says next week. Thanks again. Nancy
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I met with the thoracic surgeon and his PA separately yesterday regarding plication surgery for a paralyzed left diaphragm. The surgeon said a paralyzed diaphragm wasn't life threatening, people can live with it, and the decision to have surgery was symptom-driven. I gained a clearer understanding of how my floating paralyzed left diaphragm was actually hampering my breathing, which I hadn't understood before. That being said, I want to see if breathing exercises and losing weight will help before undergoing surgery. I moved from SE MN, where I received outstanding medical care at Mayo for 20 years, to western PA to be nearer family. Finding excellent medical care and whole support systems when you move to a new place is difficult, to say the least; but I think this surgeon really knows what he's doing. He's head of thoracic surgery at one of the two major medical centers in Pittsburgh and specializes in minimally invasive lung surgery using robots. If the breathing exercises and losing weight don't help, I'll probably go ahead with surgery in the spring. He makes his decision on how to do the surgery, ie through the stomach or side, in the operating room based on how clearly he can see inside my chest cavity to operate the robots doing the sewing for the plications across my diaphragm. Does anyone have any information if breathing exercises overcome the negative impacts a floating diaphragm has on breathing? Thanks! This is really a tremendous resource. Nancy
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Nancy, very nice to speak with you. My surgery was through my side. Scar runs close to my scapula to just below my armpit. I don’t want to scare people about this surgery but just from my experience it was terrible pain. My chest is still numb around the diaphragm area from the front to my side. There was considerable bleeding for at least 4 days and a chest tube was inserted during surgery through your back. They also inserted a catheter which I was so thankful of because getting up was painful even with pain meds being pumped in near my spine which I forgot what they call. It feels like I have a wad of material that runs under my bottom rib. I have lost a lot of weight in the last 6 months and it does protrude some and is noticeable. They may have better ways of doing this surgery now. I couldn’t find much 4 years ago. Wishing you the best. Brian