OK, so I hope you are all sitting comfortably and ready for a long read as there is LOTS of information.
Mom went in to see Dr. Ong (the surgeon) this morning to fill out a bunch of pre-op paperwork-although not all of it as there is still a bunch more to do. She will be having a Thoracoscopy done on Thursday, July 31st at Surrey Memorial Hospital. Mom will have to be at the hospital 2 hours before the surgery, and it should take about an hour or so to do the surgery.
The surgeon that will be performing the operation will be Dr. James Bond-yes that’s really his name!! J What he will be doing is making a 10cm incision on Mom’s right side and then will try to locate one of the lesions. He will be trying to get one of the smaller ones as they are easier get at rather than the larger one which is about mid-chest. However, if he is unable to find a smaller one he will have to get the larger one-thus causing the surgery to take a bit longer. As Dr. Ong said to my mom, it will be like finding a marble in a sponge. Once they have found and removed a lesion, they will then be putting in a talc material to seal the lungs and chest wall. Hopefully this will stop any further fluid buildup-this procedure is called Talc Pleurodesis. The last thing they will be doing is putting in a Pleurex catheter to drain the lungs for the first few days post-op. This catheter will be left in until the “all clear” is given, which may be until the end of Chemo, as they want Mom to have to go to the ER every couple of days to have the lungs drained if the talc doesn’t work (and from what Mom has been told, the talc is highly successful). They will then use staples to close up the incision as they need air to get into the lungs. After this type of surgery, some patients’ lungs take a while to re-inflate which can be quite painful.
Mom will be in the hospital for 3 days after the surgery (as she said-flowers and visitors are welcome :-P). It will take about a full week after that to fully recuperate so Mom will more than likely be taking the week off of work and staying home.
Mom has to go see her family Dr. tomorrow afternoon to fill out some more paperwork, and is currently waiting for the anesthesiologist/nurse to call her and let her know when she needs to come in to meet with them. She has been told that she needs to have a family member come with her for this. Mom also will be given the paperwork to go have more blood work done and will go have another ECG done (because she is over 50). Mom is also waiting to hear from the oncologist as to when she will go see him to get the results from the biopsy, but that should be happening the week of August 4th. Once she has the results she should be starting chemo 5-6 days later.
So I think that’s about it-will post more once we know more. I will also leave a note on here as to what room she is in for any visitors that wish to visit her after the surgery.
Mom went in to see Dr. Ong (the surgeon) this morning to fill out a bunch of pre-op paperwork-although not all of it as there is still a bunch more to do. She will be having a Thoracoscopy done on Thursday, July 31st at Surrey Memorial Hospital. Mom will have to be at the hospital 2 hours before the surgery, and it should take about an hour or so to do the surgery.
The surgeon that will be performing the operation will be Dr. James Bond-yes that’s really his name!! J What he will be doing is making a 10cm incision on Mom’s right side and then will try to locate one of the lesions. He will be trying to get one of the smaller ones as they are easier get at rather than the larger one which is about mid-chest. However, if he is unable to find a smaller one he will have to get the larger one-thus causing the surgery to take a bit longer. As Dr. Ong said to my mom, it will be like finding a marble in a sponge. Once they have found and removed a lesion, they will then be putting in a talc material to seal the lungs and chest wall. Hopefully this will stop any further fluid buildup-this procedure is called Talc Pleurodesis. The last thing they will be doing is putting in a Pleurex catheter to drain the lungs for the first few days post-op. This catheter will be left in until the “all clear” is given, which may be until the end of Chemo, as they want Mom to have to go to the ER every couple of days to have the lungs drained if the talc doesn’t work (and from what Mom has been told, the talc is highly successful). They will then use staples to close up the incision as they need air to get into the lungs. After this type of surgery, some patients’ lungs take a while to re-inflate which can be quite painful.
Mom will be in the hospital for 3 days after the surgery (as she said-flowers and visitors are welcome :-P). It will take about a full week after that to fully recuperate so Mom will more than likely be taking the week off of work and staying home.
Mom has to go see her family Dr. tomorrow afternoon to fill out some more paperwork, and is currently waiting for the anesthesiologist/nurse to call her and let her know when she needs to come in to meet with them. She has been told that she needs to have a family member come with her for this. Mom also will be given the paperwork to go have more blood work done and will go have another ECG done (because she is over 50). Mom is also waiting to hear from the oncologist as to when she will go see him to get the results from the biopsy, but that should be happening the week of August 4th. Once she has the results she should be starting chemo 5-6 days later.
So I think that’s about it-will post more once we know more. I will also leave a note on here as to what room she is in for any visitors that wish to visit her after the surgery.
3 comments:
Hi Roni
I'll be thinking about you. Just wanted to drop a quick line to let you know that several people I know had the Talc Pleurodesis proceedure and it was very successful. Wishing you all the best and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.
Mavis
Hi Roni,
Wish I could be home to come visit you in the hospital after your surgery, however it looks like I'll still be here. Hope the post-surgery pain isn't unbearable... We're always checking the blog - it's such a great way to keep in the loop with all that's been going on there. Take care, gf! You're always in our thoughts.
Hi Roni, am thinking about you and hoping the surgury was a great success.
Wishing you the best always
Daphne
Post a Comment