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Why is surgery preferable to targeted radiation?

Posted by muffyy @muffyy, Mar 8 9:25am

I have stage 1 cancer, "until proven otherwise". It's a 12 x6-8 mm nodule in a location that might be inaccessible. I still have to meet with a surgeon. It showed up on a follow up CT for my Bronchiectasis. It glowed on the PET scan I got next. The trouble is, it's next to the descending aorta and high in the lower left lobe. The pulmonologist told me that if the surgeon says can't cut it out safely by wedge or lobectomy, they would do targeted, concentrated radiation. My question is, why don't they start with that? Does anyone know? I forgot to ask, or didn't think to. This surgery sounds dreadful. Thanks.

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Mentor
Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | 1 day ago
In reply to @muffyy "Hi all, (a month of waiting later) Good advice from @lls8000 about waiting and the difficulties..." + (show)
@muffyy

Hi all, (a month of waiting later) Good advice from @lls8000 about waiting and the difficulties and benefits.
I met the surgeon. she is confident and warm, exactly what I was hoping for. She gave me the options of waiting or doing radiation but said she didn't recommend them. She has a plan that sounds good to me. She can do a wedge resection, no problem. This is what the pulmonologist had thought might be impossible. So she'll do that. If the nodule is sticking to the aorta, a cardiac surgeon will come in to assist. If the lab says the nodule is cancerous, she'll cut out the segment or the maybe the whole LL lobe. She'll use a robot and a 3-d imaging system. It will be minimally invasive surgery. It doesn't sound as bad as it did at first. Now another month of waiting until surgery day- May 2. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the support.

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Hi @muffyy , I'm glad that your consult with the surgeon went well. It's helpful to have that type of trust and confidence.
Now, more waiting! Oh the waiting..., but it gives you some time to prepare too.

REPLY
sonshine161 | @sonshine161 | 8 hours ago

Hi
I live in Oregon and was diagnosed with stage 3a in 2022. After much advice i understood that the only sure “cure” was with surgery that cut it all out. Because of the location of the tumor which was the size of a lime and butting up against my aorta the local surgeons said it would be “tricky.”

I was not as confident with them as i wanted. Then i reviewed major cancer centers and decided to go to Dana Farber in Boston ( my daughter lives there). I met with a top surgeon, Dr. Swanson, from Mass General who assured me he’d done this many times before but i needed the complete removal of my left lung, a pneumonectomy. It was scary but i went ahead. Now it’s 2 1/2 years later. I had my latest scan yesterday and there is no evidence of cancer disease. I enjoy playing 9 holes of golf 3 or 4 times a week and I’m doing much better than anyone expected. I walked4 1/2 miles today. If you need or want surgery go to the best you can find. Good luck ❤️

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