Situation
Common outpatient
questions
1 Is it all out ?
2 Will it come back ?
3 Why have I got numb
patches on my chest wall anteriorly ?
4 Why am I short of
breath now, when I wasn’t preoperatively ?
5 How long will I
live ?
1 Is it all out ?
You need to consult
operation note and histology report to answer this.
2 Will it come back ?
Always a possibility,
likelihood depends on stage. Probably best to say that is why we are following
you up to detect any recurrence or new tumours at an early and potentially
treatable stage. All patients have a chance of a second new primary, as they
have already had one.
3 Why have I got numb
patches on my chest wall anteriorly ?
You can not see the
nerves when you do a thoracotomy, so anterior numbness, which seems to
particularly irritate women where their bra strap lies is common, and will
improve, but may not go completely.
4 Why am I short of
breath now, when I wasn’t preoperatively ?
Assuming the lungs
have not been damaged during their thoracic procedure, it is usually the limited
pulmonary reserve they had preoperatively been exposed due to the removal of
functioning pulmonary parenchyma.
5 How long will I
live ?
No one can tell you
that. However if they are an early stage you can bolster their hopes by telling
them they are in the good group as far as survival goes.