Bob I think you said March 7th

I am hopeful that they will resection the tumor without traditional surgical methods. However, please make sure you line up some assistance when you get out for at least two weeks in case they have to do traditional surgery. Again, please be careful on what you eat if you are taking opiates because constipation with a resectioned lung can be unpleasant. Please take stool softners and try to get off the pain meds as soon as possible.

I know I am mean with you sometimes, but I mean this sincerely we are all very concerned. I have spoke with some forum members and we will try to do lunch after your surgery. You can finally meet the oz behind the curtain, but if you become a smart asz......I will make you laugh......and that is the one thing I forgot to tell you.....ya got go easy on the belly laughs for awhile as you are healing....so that lunch may need to be later in the month.

Well, I was going to save my good wishes for a little closer to the date,  but since you've brought it up, Sea, I'll say now to Bob that I'll be pulling for you, for the skill and success of your surgeon, for the very best possible outcome of the procedure, and for as rapid a recovery as humanly possible. You're obviously a sensible, even-keeled trooper, and I hope you have as much faith in you as we do.  You can definitely do this!!

Thanks,  seaoat and Linda.

Yes,  surgery Monday.  The good news is because the tumor is less than 2 centimeters in size,  I won't lose an entire lobe of my lung which would have taken 25% of my lung capacity.  With only a wedge being removed that becomes only 5% of lost lung capacity.

But as seaoat has mentioned,  how difficult the recovery is will definitely hinge on which surgical procedure is used.
If the robotic surgery can complete the procedure,  the surgeon tells me I'll actually go home the next day.
But that's contingent on how much scar tissue the surgeon finds in my lung.
Too much and he has to abandon the robot and then open me up and perform a full thoracotomy...

from wiki...

Thoracotomies are thought to be one of the most difficult surgical incisions to deal with post-operatively, because they are extremely painful and the pain can prevent the patient from breathing effectively, leading to atelectasis or pneumonia.

Needless to say,  I'm hoping like hell the robot can do it.  lol

Even if the robot is not used, they oversell the pain so when the do it you really do not feel as bad as they prepared you. I mean it is unpleasant, but it gets better rather fast. I lost about twenty percent of my lung capacity with the removal of part of my bronc and upper left lobe, but I was fifty seven at the time and as my son in law said......you are not going to be running a hundred meter race before the surgery, so why are you worrying about losing a little capacity. You adjust, but the most remarkable thing is in post op recovery when you are not on a ventilator and you realize they just took a lobe and you are still breathing fine. Again, if you are released right away try to get off the pain pills as soon as you can bear the discomfort. Go easy on any solid foods when on opiates, and it will hurt when you cough but it gets much better really in a couple weeks and knowing it gets better makes the discomfort bearable.

Now if you get a little bad news, do not freak......I have gotten nothing but bad news for over seven years and I am still here. You will adjust your physical activity, but I do not think you have been running the hundred meter, and you definitely will not after the surgery. We will wait for what we all hope will be good news.

Bob, Allow me to join Mr. Oats, Linda and Hallmark and express my sincere concern(s) for your upcoming ordeal . . . . . I assure you we all care and support you! Keep us posted as you can or allow another to post your situation on your behalf so we will know how you are!

2seaoat wrote: the most remarkable thing is in post op recovery when you are not on a ventilator

I have my pre-op appointment this morning and that was the first question I was planning to ask.
So by the time you came to,  the ventilator tube had already been removed?

Remember to ask if they can finish with the robot if the overnight stay is in patient. Makes a big difference on what you are going to end up paying. Make sure you are admitted as in patient on Monday morning at 5AM.

ppaca wrote:Remember to ask if they can finish with the robot if the overnight stay is in patient. Makes a big difference on what you are going to end up paying. Make sure you are admitted as in patient on Monday morning at 5AM.

Great information pp, that is very important . . . . many get snagged with that one detail so thanks! I'll keep it mind for my own family!

I had no complications other than the surgery was over seven hours.  Never was on a ventilator, which in preop they warned me was a possibility.  I know this may sound goofy, but they gave me a pre op massage.  I think it did a tremendous job of relaxing my entire body.  If you can line one up for Sunday, get it done.  I doubt somebody is going to get up at four am and give you a massage, but check it out.  My surgery took so long because quite honestly my surgeon and pulmonary specialist were dealing with a cancer because of its rarity they were not that familiar so the surgeon took extra time cutting at the margins and waiting for results on the tissue from pathology.....all my lymph nodes were clear.   If the lung tumor had been my primary tumor, I had about 90% chance of beating the cancer.....evidently at the time of the surgery, I already had lesions on the liver which the Pet and normal cat scans missed, and the cancer spread.  Where I only had one tumor about the size of your small finger's fingernail, they took the upper left lobe.  Unfortunately the four marble sized tumors they discovered last month and debulked, froze, cauterized, and radiated could not be surgically removed, and in endocrine cancer it simply means I am losing my eight year battle which this June will be my forty year wedding anniversary and my eight year cancer anniversary...........so you probably will be deep into your seventies before it gets bad, and your quality of life will actually be pretty good.  I hope the pathology is clear, and not small cell, but even small cell caught early could give you a five year survival rate, but caught late never goes five years.  It is a small tumor.   I have four bigger now, and unfortunately they are going to stay with me, but they said they can do the rigid bronc again.   You actually will be amazed at how good of a job they will do, and how two weeks after the surgery you will be back on the road to complete recovery.....you will have some discomfort as I said with constipation and coughing.  Take stool softners, go easy on solid foods while taking opiates, and avoid funny people.  I made my wife laugh after her c section on our daughter's birth...........she got even. Also, get somebody to walk with you immediately. I made it from the house to the road the second day home......one block the next day....two blocks....etc. Push the envelope and do not become sedentary. If you notice, I am constantly doing physical projects because my mind and body just want to sit in my lazy boy....you need to get up after surgery and push as much as you can tolerate the pain, but follow Dr. instructions.....and do not operate a bobcat five days after lung surgery......do not drive on pain pills, or if you are experiencing pain because you will make mistakes driving.....I did.

Thanks,  ppaca, for the heads up about getting admitted. 
And thanks,  seaoat,  for sharing your experience with me.

Obviously seaoat must've done something (or, more likely, a whole lot of somethings) right over the years, because, as he notes, he's still here, and that's really huge.   Nevertheless, I feel the need to insert a bit of a warning about pain, and I'm  betting Joani, for one, can back me up.  Don't try to be a hero and go without pain pills (or space them too widely apart) if you end up needing them.   Pain begets more pain, and pain is a major stressor on the body and psyche, all of which is counterproductive to healing.   The constipation and even the fear of addiction can be managed, but the first thing to manage is the pain.   Everyone's tolerance is different, so just take care of your own.

My two cents, FWIW.

Papca is right in patient not 24 hour.

Non if you need anything I can be available.

When this is all over Bob we'll go over all the EOB's and bills you will be receiving from every Tom, Dick and Harry and have our customer service department check with the insurance company if anything looks out of sort.

I would never suggest not taking pain pills when it is unbearable, but the problem with a resection of the lung is that pain pills can beget more pain if you are not careful with ample stool softners and a light diet the first week you are on them. Now I am talking about traditional lung resection and not the robot, but it is a mess when coughing or straining during a bowel movement.....I cannot stress enough to avoid heavy full meals, and eat lightly with ample stool softners because until the lung heals it can be very unpleasant, so pain pills can actually slow the recovery.....cause additional pain, and kick your asz if you are not fully aware. This should be routine, and routine means a couple of weeks dealing with unpleasant pain.......but when you cough.....ouch.

Good luck Bob... hope all goes well and that someone can update us.

Prayers are with you Bob.

Looking forward to the good news after surgery, Bob. Take care. You are in my prayers.

Doubling down on my thoughts previously stated above.  Hang in there, kiddo. This group is obviously pulling for you big time!

Hope this is not premature, but was just told he came out of surgery a few minutes ago, around 11:30. They did do the robotic and had very little scar tissue. Things went well and sent what they took out for biopsy. He may go home tomorrow.

ppaca wrote:Hope this is not premature, but was just told he came out of surgery a few minutes ago, around 11:30. They did do the robotic and had very little scar tissue. Things went well and sent what they took out for biopsy. He may go home tomorrow.

Thank you so much for the update.

Joanimaroni wrote:

ppaca wrote:Hope this is not premature, but was just told he came out of surgery a few minutes ago, around 11:30. They did do the robotic and had very little scar tissue. Things went well and sent what they took out for biopsy. He may go home tomorrow.

Thank you so much for the update.

Yes! Thanks, ppaca!! Sounds very hopeful. Yay on the robotic!!!!!

Hang in there, Smokey.

Wow... It'd be incredible if he's really able to shake this off in a few days. Best wishes Bob.

Thanks, ppaca! Great news.