Right upper Lobectomy in April - Numbness, Fullness

Welcome to Mayo Clinic's Connect, @whahoo . Great name! Is that how you felt when you had your cancer removed? lol. I think that we all have felt a good amount of relief after surgery is over. After I got out of the hospital, my expectations for a very quick recovery were pretty high, too.

You've just had major surgery! When there is deep tissue cutting into the chest wall you can't expect to just walk out and say goodbye. Depending on where the cut (s) were made and how deep they are, you could be numb for a while. Do you have muscle contractions?

How was your surgery performed? Was it open chest, robot-assisted? I am now 25 years from my first cancer and my numbness is gone. But my muscle contractions still show their ugly heads every now and then.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/drugs-tagrisso-side-effects#mild-side-effects
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chemo-tab/

You might not have to take any medications for your surgery, I took painkillers for a while, but everything is connected to your cancer, hence the Tagrisso. It is specific to cancer cell mutations of a certain kind. Please read the 2 links above.

How long have you been in Chemo? How are you with it? What kind of fullness are you feeling nd where?

Merry

Hi. Thanks for the response. I had robotic surgery on April 11, 2023. No chemo or immune therapy. Just Tagrisso. Stage 1B after biopsy.

I’m so glad you’re 25 years out. No other cancer issues since then?

Hi @whahoo, After reading some of the other threads on this forum about lasting nerve pain, it sounds like the numbness may hang on for a while unfortunately.
I'm wondering if the feeling of fullness may be coming from the Tagrisso. So many of the targeted therapies can run amuck with our gastrointestinal systems. I take a different med (alectinib), but the bloated feeling comes and goes for me. I even feel like look 5 months pregnant sometimes, and I can assure everyone that I'm nowhere near those days! 🙂 It's all bloat. Staying away from carbs seems to help me, but the meds are strong, and it doesn't always work. After three years on this rollercoaster, I've learned that I won't always have control over it. Does the feeling of fullness come and go for you, or is it always there?

Hello. Thank you for your reply. I’ve only been on Tagrisso (40 mg) for 3 weeks. Tried 80 mg/day and that was not doable.

It’s hard for me to tell if the right lung fullness is from the Tagrisso or if there’s some fluid buildup. Hoping it’s neither and just “normal”.

The thoracic surgeon said that it may take a couple of months for the numbness and fullness to go away. But I didn’t realize it meant over four months after surgery. So maybe I just need to be more patient. I have a CT scan set up for August and will see the thoracic surgeon right after that perhaps I’ll know more then.

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

@whahoo- Good morning. By fullness in your lung do mean when you inhale the attached lobe seems to expand?

Merry

Not sure how to explain it. It’s just a constant sense of fullness where the right lung is. Two lobe’s remaining that e landed to fill up the cavity.

Then I'm inclined to think that it might be Tagrisso. But this is a big maybe. It will be interesting to see what, if anything your next CT scan shows. It could be a lot of things and all I would be doing is guessing and driving you nuts.

A lot of times bloating is caused by trapped air too. The feeling of fullness is bloating, I believe.

If you have an increase in pain or some other change, run, don't walk to 911! OK?

Thank you! I will definitely go to the ER if necessary.