How long does recovery take from lung surgery?
March 1st, 2010 | by admin |My husband will be getting surgery on his right lung to remove a loculated pleural effusion. Does anyone know how long he can expect to have to stay in the hospital after surgery and how long before he is back on his feet? I can’t seem to find any information on the recovery time’s.
he will probably need to be on the ventilator during surgery, he shouldn’t remember much about it, providing he comes off it with no problems as most do, sometimes it takes a few tries before they can come off it. ask doctors for anxiety medicine if he is fearful of this, they will relax him throughout and he’ll be fine. i was in hospital for 7 days for lung biopsy, they told me the norm was 4 days. i personally found it to be harder than abdominal surgery, but easier to deal with once the drainage stuff is taken out 2 to 3 days after surgery, may be leakage for a while afterwards, had to keep a cushion behind me for 2 weeks after surgery.. if mostly clear it’s normal, he will be very very sore, but the more he moves the sooner he moves, the faster he will feel better, propping or supporting with pillows a certain way helps too. he could get dizzy suddenly at first, and must not be too prideful about having someone walk with him to the restroom at first. this will ease off. the nurses should be able to advise on all this more. if either of you have any questions write them down and forcefully demand the doctors take time to answer you. they do like to say a few sentences and run, but they get paid enough to explain fully to us. i’ve been through many surgeries. this lung biopsy was the hardest for me to recover from, of course i’m older now, and not in wonderful health. they went in through my back and side also, incision site probably makes a difference too. give himself time to recover. tell him not to be shy about the pain medicine the first 2 or 3 days and to use his little breathy coughy thing a lot to help clear his lungs, which will be gunky at first. low grade fever is normal right after surgery as well. feel welcome to write me if you have any other questions. i may or may not be able to help or advise. good wishes.
One Response to “How long does recovery take from lung surgery?”
By Bonnie W on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply
he will probably need to be on the ventilator during surgery, he shouldn’t remember much about it, providing he comes off it with no problems as most do, sometimes it takes a few tries before they can come off it. ask doctors for anxiety medicine if he is fearful of this, they will relax him throughout and he’ll be fine. i was in hospital for 7 days for lung biopsy, they told me the norm was 4 days. i personally found it to be harder than abdominal surgery, but easier to deal with once the drainage stuff is taken out 2 to 3 days after surgery, may be leakage for a while afterwards, had to keep a cushion behind me for 2 weeks after surgery.. if mostly clear it’s normal, he will be very very sore, but the more he moves the sooner he moves, the faster he will feel better, propping or supporting with pillows a certain way helps too. he could get dizzy suddenly at first, and must not be too prideful about having someone walk with him to the restroom at first. this will ease off. the nurses should be able to advise on all this more. if either of you have any questions write them down and forcefully demand the doctors take time to answer you. they do like to say a few sentences and run, but they get paid enough to explain fully to us. i’ve been through many surgeries. this lung biopsy was the hardest for me to recover from, of course i’m older now, and not in wonderful health. they went in through my back and side also, incision site probably makes a difference too. give himself time to recover. tell him not to be shy about the pain medicine the first 2 or 3 days and to use his little breathy coughy thing a lot to help clear his lungs, which will be gunky at first. low grade fever is normal right after surgery as well. feel welcome to write me if you have any other questions. i may or may not be able to help or advise. good wishes.
References :
had lung surgery last year, lots of medical experience from patient’s side of things…