One of my dearest friends had surgery for lung cancer six weeks ago. They removed a lobe of her lung and say the cancer had not spread into any lymph nodes and was contained, so she required no chemotherapy or radiation. She weathered the surgery well, but a post-operative problem of sudden bouts of nausea and vertigo have proven debilitating. They seem to be improving a little over time and she is learning to cope on a day-to-day basis, but noone seems able to diagnose an actual cause for the problem. She has seen an ENT specialist who found nothing wrong with her ears, nose, or throat and who suggested that it is simply her body attempting to recover from such a traumatic surgery. She remains short of breath, feels often that she cannot get a full breath in, and just wants somebody to tell her if this is common, unusual, or what... can anyone give some input on this as I'd love to be able to tell her that she is not alone.

Many thanks,
Kim

I have heard that lung resection or removal is very very tough on the body, like losing a kidney. Hopefully your friend will start growing stronger as the days go by. It would not hurt to look around for another doctor to help out, and maybe even alternative therapy to help ease the aches and pain. Like a chiropractor for instance...or someone who practices acupuncture. Just a thought.....

take care,
Jan

I had a lobectomy (middle right) March 23. My biggest problem was dealing with the pain from the cut ribs and nerves. My doctor made sure I did slow deep breathing exercises every hour to make sure the remaining lobes would expand into the space of the missing lobe. I also started walking 3 plus miles a day literly the day I got out of the hospital no matter how much it hurt. It still hasn't totally healed and I still have pain (sometimes severe) from the nerves regenerating and a rib that still "clicks" when I breath deep. The doc said it can take anywhere from 3 months to 2 years to recover as this is very invasive surgery and some people tolerate it better than others. Constant deep breating exercises should help with the shortness of breath assuming the remaining lobes are in good shape. My doc said most people don't even miss the removed lobe once the remaining lobes compensate (hence the deep breathing exercises). My breathing according to the spirometer increased nearly one 1/3 after just the first day of the breathing exercises. Possibly some of the symptoms may be from pain meds she is taking? I know morphine can cause the nausea in some people. Fortunately I am doing well at this point considering but I am really sweating about my upcoming follow up CT scan to find out if they got it all. I hope her doc can find ways to help her with the nausea and shortness of breath.

Dave

Dave, Keeping my fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers that your upcoming CT shows they got all of the cancer. Hang in there. :wave: JanMarie

Dear Dave,
Many, many thanks for your detailed response, I know it shall help Janice a great deal--especially the information about the deep breathing excersizes, since I do not believe she has been on a regimen such as this.
Regarding the vertigo and nausea... As soon as surgery was over, the problem began and the doctors, at first, thought it was caused by the epidural she had for pain management--they took her off it. It did not help. Then, they thought it was pain medication, period. Janice decided the nausea was so bad it was worse than any pain might be, so she discontinued the pain medication. The poor dear found, in short order, that the pain was, indeed, the greater of the two evils! She went back on the lowest amount of pain medicine she could get by on. Eventually, as the healing began, she was able to wean herself off of all medication, but, unfortunately, the vertigo, dizziness, and nausea continued. At first, it was an all day thing, but now--six weeks into recovery--it is a daily episode thing that is triggered by all sorts of events, but mostly sudden movements such as bending over or standing up quickly. It IS marginally better, but it certainly isn't signifiantly better by any means. I Feel so sorry for her, Dave, she had a terrible day last Thursday, feeling so poorly that she was emotionally wrecked as well as feeling that way physically. I truly wish I could help her in some way.
Can you tell me how the doctor told you to deep breathe? I think deep breathing excersizes would help her a lot.
Anyway, thank you again for your input... it helps a lot to have SOMEthing to share with her from someone who knows exactly what she is going through.
Best wishes,
Kim

Kim,
My doc started me on the breathing exercises almost as soon as I was out of surgery and awake. Initially he gave me a plastic gauge called a spirometer and told me to take as deep a breath as I could and then slowly exhale into the gauge and it had a pointer that showed your estimated capacity. He had me do that for several minutes every hour and you could actually see the improvements. After I got out of the hospital he told me to keep up the exercises as often as possible to make sure the remaining lobes expanded into the empty space left by the removed lobe. He said normal fluids will also start filling the empty space and I guess its easier for the lobes to expand before the fluid has time to fill it. He said that most lobectomy patients only lose about 10% of their lung capacity due to the remaining lobes compensating and that most people will never notice its gone.
The vertigo/dizziness problem almost sounds like a blood pressure problem. When I was on the morphine the first 12 days my bp was unusually low as my bp tends to be on the low side normally anyways. I am not on any prescription pain meds at all now, just OTC stuff (not that it helps much).

Dave