I finally had surgery to remove the tumor on Thursday, April 21st. I had to do pre-surgery paperwork and blood work the day before and then I had to be at the hospital at 6 am the day of, so my wife and I, spent the night at a hotel near the hospital.
I think I got back to the presurgery prep area around 7:30 am or 8 am. While I was back there, they started two IVs and implanted an epidural. I think I was taken to the operating room sometime between 10 and 11 am.
Going into to the surgery, the doctor felt that based on the placement of the tumor, that he was going to have to remove the whole left lung. He did say that there was a small chance that he could save part of left lung ( one of the lobes). Well, due to the grace of God, he was able to do much more. He was able to save both lobes. He removed a small part of one lobe and half of the other. As of today, I still have two lungs. In my mind this is nothing short of a miracle and a testament to God's power. I feel very much in awe of God and very blessed.
It appears that I was woke up shortly after the surgery. I remember being out of it but hearing one of the doctors talking about a "resection". I knew that that term resection is only used when a section of tissue is removed. This gave me hope that the lung was saved. I immediately began waking myself up and asking questions about what actually happened in the operating room. It wasn't long after that I received confirmation that the surgery went better than expected.
After the surgery, my left arm and ribs were very sore. My left arm was also very stiff due to how I was positioned during surgery. It took a few days before I had the full range of motion back. I was able to check out of the hospital the following Sunday. My wife has been doing a great job of taking care of me. I'm currently off my pain medicines. I'm not in any pain but still experience a little soreness from time to time. Less each day. I'm taking it slow, I'm hope to be back at 100% by the end of May. I feel stronger everyday.
