You may wonder about a lot of things when you have surgery, no matter what symptoms of mesothelioma you may be having. These Traditional Care FAQs will answer some of the questions in your mind.
Q. Why are they doing this chest operation?
A. Your doctor may recommend a thoracotomy—using a videoscope/camera or not—in order to confirm the diagnosis of lung cancer, to remove a cancerous lung or some portion of it, or to remove scar tissue or repair an air leak in your lung.
Q. How effective is surgery?
A. Surgery is most effective in the early stages (I and II) of mesothelioma when it has not affected the lymph nodes or grown outside the chest area.
Q. What should I expect after surgery?
A. Lung surgery requires you to stay in the hospital after the procedure. How long you stay will depend on how well your remaining lung function works, how healthy you were before the surgery, and which type of procedure you had done. In some cases your doctor may also recommend radiation and/or chemotherapy.
Q. What kind of pain should I expect?
A. It depends on what the surgeon had to do to perform the operation. You should not have much pain with minimally invasive procedures, but any time you open the chest, you will mostly likely have some level of discomfort for at least a few weeks and possibly up to a few months, again depending on the factors above.
Q. Will I have a tube sticking out of my chest?
A. It’s not uncommon to have one or two tubes left in place after surgery. Fluid and blood are usually present in the chest cavity after lung surgery. One tube may also help refill your lungs with air. Tubes may be connected to a machine that gently sucks fluids from the chest. Your doctor will measure this fluid and remove the tube, usually after a few days.
Q. What about helping me breathe better?
A. You will be given instructions, often by a respiratory therapist, on how to improve your breathing after surgery. You will likely be asked to do deep breathing and to use a spirometer (a gauge that helps you measure how well you are breathing). Your doctor might also prescribe medications to ease your breathing.
Mesothelioma treatment
When you receive surgery as part of your mesothelioma treatment—treatment for a rare and aggressive cancer—you will most likely be concerned at some time with all the issues mentioned in the Traditional Care FAQs. If at any time you are unhappy with the answers you are receiving from your doctor or others, review the suggestions on Choosing Your Care Team. You deserve to understand what is happening to you at each step of the way.
Lung cancer treatment
Because there is so much to know about lung cancer treatment, the above Traditional Care FAQs is necessarily limited. You can read more on our site at Asbestos Lung Cancer Treatment. For information on related topics, visit the National Cancer Institute's website on lung cancer treatment.
Your right to an asbestos lawsuit
No matter whether you have pleural malignant mesothelioma (lung) or peritoneal mesothelioma (stomach/abdomen), you have a right to have a qualified mesothelioma attorney to give you a free case evaluation. At HendlerLaw we help mesothelioma patients determine if they may be able to file an asbestos lawsuit to recover compensation for wrongful asbestos exposure. Call us at 800.443.6353 or email us at
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Mesothelioma Treatment 