I had a Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor that Doctors said should be removed. The tumor was in my Ulnar nerve for my left arm and hand, about 6 inches from my spine, close to my heart, above my left lung and near my Phrenic nerve. The fear of a nerve sheath rupture spreading cancer cells freely to such nearby important organs or following the nerve back to my spine or brain was cause for surgery to remove the tumor.
Surgery was followed up with radiation in the brachial plexus area as additional safeguard in my treatment. Somehow, through it all my Phrenic nerve was damaged that controls the diaphragm on my left lung, leaving it not functioning. It is an unanswered question if the nerve was damaged during surgery or from radiation after treatments. The good news is that my body must compensate for the loss of the diaphragm; I have walked, ran, hiked, worked as much as I want to at my age. (69)
Tests show the rest of my lungs are healthy and there is no recurrence of cancer in the area.
It is interesting to note that the medical term for my diagnosis of a "Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor" is followed with this phrase "as a Result from Previous Radiation"
I was treated for throat cancer 5 years earlier and it included Foton Radiation treatments. It is believed that those Radiation treatments caused the tumor to develop within the nerve sheath over the next 5 years. It is very rare occurrence, near 1 in 1 million chances of this happening to me, I was told.
The lung diaphragm was of little consequence; removing the nerve caused the loss of control and feeling on my left arm and hand. I use to be left hand dominant, I am now learning to be right handed.