In less that 30 days, I was diagnosed with lung cancer, consulted with Surgeons and was scheduled for surgery...a lobectomy to be exact. On November 21, 2013, Dr. Dipin Gupta removed the lower right lobe of my lung. The type of lung cancer was adenocarcinoma staged at 1B.
I vaguely remember being rolled into the surgery room and seeing that big robotic machine, but that was fleeting. When I awoke, I was in the ICU unit where my stay was relatively uneventful. I was on pain meds and that managed my pain well, although the drain tube made it very uncomfortable to lay down or back. I believe it was the day following surgery that a physical therapist stopped by. He determined that I was doing so well that I did not need his services. I was already walking around the floor of the hospital as they wanted me to do.
The only hiccup in my stay was when a nurse insisted that I take codeine. As she said "just a small dose". I have always asked not to be given anything codeine based, as many years ago I took some and became horribly sick. Well guess what??? Some things really never change. The evening prior to my discharge, I was given the medication and within an hour I was so ill, I had lost all interest in eating. By the next morning, I was throwing up. By that afternoon, still sick, my husband, insisted that I be given something IV to stop the throwing up. Thanks to him, this worked well and by 7:00 p.m. I was free to go home.
For the record, my tumor was sent off for gene sequencing and it came back with an EGFR mutation. This is supposed to be great news, as it means that there could be targeted therapies available for me.
Be Brave,
Lynne
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