› Forums › General Melanoma Community › lingering pain post VATS?
- This topic has 12 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years ago by
vivian.
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- April 18, 2013 at 7:00 pm
Hi All,
Hi All,
I had a VATS wedge resection of a lung met (lower left lobe) back in November 2012. The surgery went well and I have been NED since – Yay! However, in the last couple of months I have had continuing moderate pain which seems to be located underneath the front ribs in the area of the stomach. Nothing shows up on scans, and there is nothing palpable. The oncologist says this is likely referred pain from the VATS. Obviously nerves and muscles were disturbed, so perhaps that is true, but it just doesn't feel nerve or muscle pain, more "organic". The whole left side of my upper body is weird anyway because of the original wide excision, the lymph node dissection, an in-transit excision, and finally the thoracic surgery. I was pretty convinced that the scans were going to be bad, because of the pain, but fortunately I was wrong. Do any of you thoracic surgery veterans have experience with referred pain? Would you just wait it out and see if it goes away or lobby for further testing? Thanks for any help/advice!
Lear
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- April 18, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Hi Lear,
For what it's worth I had a VATS done in April 2010. They stopped one lung (right side I think) to do it. I guess I'm fortunate, in that I didn't had any pain after two weeks or so (memory is a bit foggy on this). I don't know how abnormal what you're experiencing is. I am pretty sure if it was me that I would be concerned. I guess I need to thank my Kaiser thoracic surgeon.
– Kyle
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- April 18, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Hi Lear,
For what it's worth I had a VATS done in April 2010. They stopped one lung (right side I think) to do it. I guess I'm fortunate, in that I didn't had any pain after two weeks or so (memory is a bit foggy on this). I don't know how abnormal what you're experiencing is. I am pretty sure if it was me that I would be concerned. I guess I need to thank my Kaiser thoracic surgeon.
– Kyle
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- April 18, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Hi Lear,
For what it's worth I had a VATS done in April 2010. They stopped one lung (right side I think) to do it. I guess I'm fortunate, in that I didn't had any pain after two weeks or so (memory is a bit foggy on this). I don't know how abnormal what you're experiencing is. I am pretty sure if it was me that I would be concerned. I guess I need to thank my Kaiser thoracic surgeon.
– Kyle
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- April 18, 2013 at 11:07 pm
If all other causes of pain have been ruled out ex. gallbladder, you may want to see a pain specialist to try to do a nerve block for relief. It is also somewhat diagnositc because you will know what nerve fibers are involved. You may also have post-op adhesions near the nerves where the trochars were placed to gain access to your lung.
My back between my shoulders on the right side was sore for a few weeks afterwards. It was also the same place that hurt really bad when I had a post-op pulmonary embolus. Fortunately it resolved on its own and with blood thinners.
Best of luck, again IMHO, a pain specialist may be able to help you.
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- April 18, 2013 at 11:07 pm
If all other causes of pain have been ruled out ex. gallbladder, you may want to see a pain specialist to try to do a nerve block for relief. It is also somewhat diagnositc because you will know what nerve fibers are involved. You may also have post-op adhesions near the nerves where the trochars were placed to gain access to your lung.
My back between my shoulders on the right side was sore for a few weeks afterwards. It was also the same place that hurt really bad when I had a post-op pulmonary embolus. Fortunately it resolved on its own and with blood thinners.
Best of luck, again IMHO, a pain specialist may be able to help you.
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- April 18, 2013 at 11:07 pm
If all other causes of pain have been ruled out ex. gallbladder, you may want to see a pain specialist to try to do a nerve block for relief. It is also somewhat diagnositc because you will know what nerve fibers are involved. You may also have post-op adhesions near the nerves where the trochars were placed to gain access to your lung.
My back between my shoulders on the right side was sore for a few weeks afterwards. It was also the same place that hurt really bad when I had a post-op pulmonary embolus. Fortunately it resolved on its own and with blood thinners.
Best of luck, again IMHO, a pain specialist may be able to help you.
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- April 21, 2013 at 4:29 pm
You are not alone. I had vats in early 2011 and had a lot of pain for months. Today, 2 years later I'm still experiencing pain in my rib areas near the surgery site. i have had scans that show nothing there as well. My original bone mets do not light up on PET and Doc thinks they are dead but may be cause of some of the pain. But, the 3 incision areas are where most of the pain is. Luckily, I can control it with 800mg ibuprofen.
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- April 21, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Thanks to all for your responses – very helpful to know what others experienced! I think I am going to hang in there for another month, until I see my onc again. If the pain is still there, I will ask for further testing. However, I really, really don't want to have a colonoscopy or endoscopy, which is what I bet he would call for to see if there is anything in the stomach or colon. Silly and childish, I know, but I dread that prep!
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- April 21, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Thanks to all for your responses – very helpful to know what others experienced! I think I am going to hang in there for another month, until I see my onc again. If the pain is still there, I will ask for further testing. However, I really, really don't want to have a colonoscopy or endoscopy, which is what I bet he would call for to see if there is anything in the stomach or colon. Silly and childish, I know, but I dread that prep!
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- April 21, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Thanks to all for your responses – very helpful to know what others experienced! I think I am going to hang in there for another month, until I see my onc again. If the pain is still there, I will ask for further testing. However, I really, really don't want to have a colonoscopy or endoscopy, which is what I bet he would call for to see if there is anything in the stomach or colon. Silly and childish, I know, but I dread that prep!
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- April 21, 2013 at 4:29 pm
You are not alone. I had vats in early 2011 and had a lot of pain for months. Today, 2 years later I'm still experiencing pain in my rib areas near the surgery site. i have had scans that show nothing there as well. My original bone mets do not light up on PET and Doc thinks they are dead but may be cause of some of the pain. But, the 3 incision areas are where most of the pain is. Luckily, I can control it with 800mg ibuprofen.
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- April 21, 2013 at 4:29 pm
You are not alone. I had vats in early 2011 and had a lot of pain for months. Today, 2 years later I'm still experiencing pain in my rib areas near the surgery site. i have had scans that show nothing there as well. My original bone mets do not light up on PET and Doc thinks they are dead but may be cause of some of the pain. But, the 3 incision areas are where most of the pain is. Luckily, I can control it with 800mg ibuprofen.
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