Routine outpatient follow-up
Frequency
Patients should be seen 6 to 8 weeks postoperatively, then 3 monthly for the first year, 6 monthly for the second year and then yearly until 5 years, when a decision to discharge needs to be taken.
Routine questions asked to everyone include:
How are you ?
How is your appetite ? A VERY GOOD SCREENING QUESTION
How far are you walking ?
Do you have a cough, is it new or changed ?
Haemoptysis ?
Colour of sputum ? clear, white, green, brown, red
Any pain in bones or head ?
Have any of your medications particularly inhalers changed ?
Are you still smoking ?
Is the wound okay ?
Weight, with comparison to previous readings
Plain PA chest x-ray.
Only if there is a problem would CT scanning and bronchoscopy, your main diagnostic tools, be utilised.