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Coughing post lobectomy
Hello. About 2 weeks ago my husband had a successful robotic lower right lobe lobectomy to remove a 2.8 cm nsc adenocarcinoma. He had great lung function before surgery. No underlying conditions. He was recovering very well for a week and saw the surgeon who was very happy with the progress. He had very little pain and the incisions were healing. He has recently developed a persistent, nonproductive cough that is especially annoying when he talks. Fortunately, he is able to sleep if he sleeps more or less sitting up. It’s especially bad in the evening.We plan to get in touch with the surgeon tomorrow to see if he has anything to help deal with this. I have read that it is common. Hopefully it will resolve. He’s doing his breathing exercises even though they make him cough. He’s staying hydrated and using cough drops. Does anybody have any other ideas for him? It’s really debilitating.
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Thank you for asking. It turned out he had a raging strep infection in his chest and went into septic shock. No fever or anything else. Just the coughing. His lungs were filled with fluid. He’s been in ICU for about a week and had to have a four hour surgery to irrigate and flush out the infection in his chest. It looks like he will make it, but he’s incredibly weakened and we don’t know what’s going to happen after this.
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1 ReactionHello, How is it going now? Is your husband's coughing the same, or better? I had a lower left lobectomy in 2023. It takes a long time for the body to recover. One day at a time.
@jfried01, Oh no!, Thankfully you recognized that something was wrong and got the help that he needed. I'm sure the doctors have told you that any increased shortness of breath needs to be looked into, you did the right thing in going to the ER. I hope you are back home soon. Let us know how he's doing. Hugs to you.
Unfortunately, we are not doing well. We are in the ER. He has fluid build up around his lungs which needs to be drained
Unfortunately, he’s not doing well. We are in the ER right now. He has a lot of fluid buildup on his lung that needs to be drained.
Hello @jfried01, welcome, I'm glad that you found our group. I hope your husband is continuing to recover. His job is to heal, and that's hard work! Are you holding up ok? Being a caregiver, or care-partner, can be a tough job too.
Welcome to Mayo Connect @swimmergirl25. Wow, as an endurance swimmer you must have strong lungs. I'm always impressed and inspired by such athleticism and personal drive.
It also has to be frustrating to not be able to do one of the things that you enjoy the most! Were you diagnosed with lung cancer? What treatments have you had?
I’m glad to hear you’re back exercising. I’m an endurance swimmer so it’s encouraging to see this.
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1 ReactionThanks for the reply. I’m glad it worked out for you. This is less than 2 weeks after surgery and the surgeon says it is normal. It will slowly resolve.
I had a right lower lobectomy April 2023. 2 months afterwards I developed a cough that turned out to be caused by a chylothorax. In June, 2023, they ended up going back in to seal the leak and I've been good since
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