Pleurodesis

Hello Ladies,

Just thought I would update you all about the procedure. I was supposed to catch up with a surgeon on Friday 3rd February to discuss the procedure but the weekend before everything took a turn for the worse!

I ended up at the Austin on Saturday 28th Jan with terrible shoulder and neck pain.  Later that afternoon I was transferred over to Warringal.

On Sunday I had a visit from a cardio -thoracic surgeon who told me that it had become quite urgent for me to be operated on.  By 9.00pm Sunday night I was being organised for an emergency pleurodesis.  I could barely breathe and I am sure that I could feel the fluid filling up the left pleural cavity.  It was a very distressing feeling and I pray that if any of you ever experience terrible pains in your shoulders and neck get it addressed ASAP because things can change quite quickly.

My husband received a call from the surgeon at 1.00am to tell him that they had taken 4.5 litre of fluid out of my chest.  My left lung had collapsed and the fluid had pushed my heart out of it's normal position.  Luckily my lung reinflated by itself and they then completed the procedure by irritating the surface of the lung and sticking the lung to my chest wall.  I see the surgeon this Friday to see if it has successfully stuck. 

The cause of all this was some rogue cancer cells in the pleura that had decided to sweat and produce fluid.  This can be quite a common thing to happen and must be addressed almost immediately.   This has given me probably the biggest scare ever.  My surgeon tells me that I was mere minutes and mls from things going the wrong way.

I am now going to reassess my life again.  I am thinking of getting out of my job which I just cannot seem to leave at the office and doing something that at the end of my shift, I just go home.  I am going to enjoy my family more and everything I do will be for me, my husband and my daughters.  I need to create fun and memories with them.  All my results so far have shown that there is nothing new and I should be able to continue on with the Xeloda again once I am healed a bit more, so luckily no changes in what I have.

I just want everyone to be aware of this type of thing and listen to your body.  i nearly didn't and the outcome could have been totally different.  I might sound a bit flat and harsh at the moment, but I am still trying to process the fact about how close I came to a different outcome.  It has been an emotional week for me and I am finding I still cry at the drop of a hat, but for the first time ever, I am going to think about me.

If anyone has any questions about the operation or anything I am more than happy to let you know as I think it is something we all need to be aware of.  I don't want to scare anyone, I just want to make sure people are aware of how quickly situations can change when in our position.

I promise I will be more upbeat next time.

I wish everyone the best with their treatments and hope all of you are travelling well.

Take care.

Tracey xxx