I have been told that once my chemo starts I will lose my hair.  Everyone tells me about the wigs I can wear.  I must admit before having cancer, I thought every female with cancer wore a wig.  But the more I have thought about it, I dont want a wig.  Anyone else feel this way?  I am not ashamed of having cancer, and when my hair falls out it falls out, if I wear a wig, am I only making those around me feel less akward? I will be happy with scarves, and I have started to collect them now.  If we have hair fever, we go around with red eyes, a cold we have a red nose, so with some chemo we end up bald.  If I lose my hair, I am still me.  Would love to hear other peoples experiences or thoughts. ... View more

Two and a half weeks after my lobectomy I have a sharp pain in my left lung each time I inhale. (The lobectomy was on my right side).  I was panting, as it hurt so much to breathe.  I called the ambulance and they rushed me to the local hospital.  They checked for a blood clot, and when there wasnt one, they sent me home in pain, with the advice to see my GP in the week. I was horrified, was it becasue I have Lung Cancer that they didnt want to spend time on me?   After a sleepless night and more pain, I went to ED at FSH.  I should of done this in the first place.  They checked the xray that the local hospital did the day before, and straight away they could see i had Pneumonia!! This was treated with intravenous antibiotics, and I was kept in for two days.   I am still on oral antibiotics, but it is great to be able to breathe without pain.   It concerns me that the local hospital did not want to spend time investigating the cause.     ... View more

Its been 10 days since the op, and I thought I would be well on the mend.  I felt so good on Saturday I even reduced the amount of pain killers.  However, I think I over did it on Sunday, and by Sunday night I was gasping for breath, and desperately swallowing pain killers.  I have found I am very teary, crying at the drop of a hat.   Hubby appears very stressed and does not talk to me much, or appears to always be yelling.  Its Monday now, and I have an appointment with my GP this arvo, need more pain killers, and this will be the first time seeing him, since we found the lung cancer.  It is thanks to him, I guess that I had the op.   I am still out of breath, and my in between my shoulder blades on my back ache constantly, and underneath my right breast aches, whether this is the lung or the ribs I am unsure.   I realise this was a major procedure, but thought I would be getting back to work by now. ... View more

By an unusual chain of events I found out I had Stage 2 Lung Cancer.  I had no symptoms at all, no shortness of breath, no coughing, no coughing up blood. However, I was a smoker.   I needed a medical certificate for work as I was taking Friday off, GP wanted to do EGC on me, but unknown to him, the printer was faulty and gave a grave reading, I was then sent to local hospital for second opinion and given a chest xray, and it was then they found a mass on the lung, and a mass in each breast.   On the 30 March 2019 my life was turned upside down, I was one of the lucky ones, after PET Scans and Biopsies, it had not spread to other parts of my body, and it was operable and I underwent a Lobectomy on 7th June.  My breasts turned out to be non cancerous and just dense.   I have been home from hospital a few days, and just wondering if anyone else has had this operation, and wish to share the ups and downs of their journey.     ... View more

I thought I was being wheeled to theatre to get put to sleep and the op done. Instead I was wheeled into a room next to the theatre.  I remember two people working on me.  Putting in canulas, drips, needles, alsorts, kinda of like the pre theatre part.  Last thing I remember was a gas mask being put on and being told to count, next thing I was in recovery.   The surgeon had said that he would ring hubby as soon as he had finished the operation.  So since 3pm hubby, mam and dad are in the lobby of the hotel sitting and waiting.  When it got to 5pm hubby was very worried and went up to the ward and checked, he also kept checking the hospital link on his phone, and that said i was still in theatre.  He was thinking that somehting had gone wrong.   He said about 6pm when he went to the ward with mam and dad I was just being brought back then.  I was in theatre longer than expected, but the surgeon should of rang him like he said he would.  Hubby was apparently just about in tears, but so relieved to see me.   I remember a nurse trying to shove oxygen down me, and to move up the bed.  I was in agony, i wanted her to go away and leave me alone.  Another nurse showed me how to dispense the fentalyn myself, with a 5 minute lock out so I cant overdose, then the other nurse takes it off me.  Even though I was semi conscious I wanted that dispenser back, and I got it.   I remember Mam and Dad and Henry being there, then they were gone.   I had pumps on the socks for the circulation in my legs.  The blood pressure machine kept automatically taking me blood pressure and oxygen levels that night, nurses were checking me hourly, and I was dispensing the fentalyn for the pain.   It hurt, even with the pain killers, i had a block in the back, which they gave me to avoid the agony, and i had other local injections so that the pain would be bearable after the op.   Each check, the nurses needed me to cough, so they could check the drain, for air bubbles.  The cough was so quiet, as it was so painful.  To breathe hurt, but I knew it would get  better. ... View more

I was to have an early breakfast of toast and tea at 6am. The fast after that, however I could stilll have water or apple juice up to 9am.   I was getting worried about my breakfast arriving on time, it came at 6.10an so I gulped it down, however, I dont think a few minutes would of made any difference.   I had showered using the antiseptic wash last night, and I was to do it again this morning before the op.  So i figured I would have a late shower and sit in bed and read magazines.  Hubby was coming up about 10am.   At 9am the Nurse came and took out the heparin drip.  A blood test had showed that my bloods were on the right level.   You are not going to believe what I did next, I looked at the clock, I had a hour before hubby was coming in.  I put on my clothes, grabbed a cigarette and went out onto the road and smoked that cigarette like it was the last thing I would ever do.  I knew this was wrong and I was riddled with guilt, I quit smoking in April, with the odd one here and there.  After finishing it, i stuffed my mouth with mints, cleaned my teeth and ate more mints.   I showered in the antiseptic, so that I would be ready when they brought in the gown/socks for theatre. Then hubby and my youngest daughter arrived and my son.   My son stayed a while, then gave me a hug said he loved me and off he went. The nurse came with my gown, i changed into it, and she put on the socks, and the best part..the Pre Med.   Having the pre med relaxed me, my daughter and hubby said i was talking nonsense.  Saying I had two dogs at home, when I only had one, and lots of other jibberash.   Once my daughter left, it was just me and hubby, this is when i became scared.  What if something goes wrong, what if it has spread and he cant operate, what if i bleed to death.  I remember talking to hubby about this.   I was told the op will be about 3 hours.   Next thing I new I was being wheeled to theatre, petrified. ... View more