FUN LUNG SURGERY

-Lung surgery...the pain and the discomfort is so unbearable that the first couple of days you feel like you've been run over by a semi-truck. Even though the incision made seems like no big deal, it is a big deal and extremely painful.
-So on March 12th I had a procedure done to my left lung. My left lung was the lung with the largest tumor and with many tumors throughout the entire lung. The incision was made horizontally between two ribs on my left side. They entered through that small opening and moved up against my muscles, which caused part of the soreness, to reach my lung. Another cause for the soreness is that they intubate you so that if your lungs were to collapse, basically stop breathing, they are ready to act quickly and effectively and but you on a breathing machine. When the tube comes out of your throat you are left being sore for many days.
-So what exactly did they do, you ask. Well first of all they took care of a condition that had developed on my right lung, called pneumothorax. Pneumothorax is the collection of air in the space around my lung. This buildup of air puts pressure on the lung, so it cannot expand as much as it normally does when you breathe. They corrected this condition by placing a needle in my chest to release the air in the space around the lung so that the lung could expand to its normal size. Thank goodness because it was getting hard to breath normally without my whole lung working. They then worked on my left lung. They found the largest tumor and had to remove the bottom left portion of my lung due to the fact that the tumor was very difficult to remove without causing any other damage. So yes, I am without a full left lung. There were a few other tumors they found on the top left lung and those were removed as well. They then placed a pigtail, a tube, on my right side and a larger tube on my left side to drain any liquid that may have formed in my lungs. This is done after any type of lung procedure to ensure the lungs are free of fluids. The liquid can be moisture, blood, mucus, or any type of bodily fluid in the body and any liquid that forms in the lung can cause pneumonia.
-After lung surgery a patient goes to Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but in my case it's called Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (P-ICU), because I am still considered a child based on my age. Patients are taken to this unit to be monitored by nurses around the clock because there may be complications.
-In my case all went very well. I did not get moved to the P-ICU because I was doing very well. There were no problems during the surgery or after the surgery.
-With the loss of part of my lung I use a speedometer. It makes me take a deep breath so that my lung expands and takes over the gap in my body.
-When people have this kind of surgery they shouldn't use there upper body too much. The lower body should be used as much as possible. This has been very difficult for me because I can't use my lower body too much due to the surgery I had in October where I had a hip reconstruction. I am still recovering from that surgery and can not walk on my own as of yet. And now I add the fact that I am recovering from lung surgery but all in all things are GREAT.
-There have been many experiences in my life that I am thankful for, Even though this isn't the best situation this new me has learned how to be patient and how to make the best out of any situation.