One of the first questions that may come to mind when someone has been advised that the best option for survival is to have a lung removed, is "How can someone live with just one lung?" But there are in fact a large number of people out there who have no other choice but to live with just one lung.
Most patients after having had a lung removed will be inclined to suffer from certain side-effects, although these may vary between patients. The side-effects of the surgery itself, together with those of chemotherapy and radiation therapy can be quite intense, although for most they are usually short-lived.
After the lung operation has taken place, help may be required for the patient to adjust to his/her new life-style. There are people and organizations on-hand specially trained to offer this type of help. Social workers, and cancer help organizations are two such sources of help available where there is usually no cost involved for the patient at all.
Usually they are able to help with the basic things, such as: arranging transport that may be required for going backwards and forwards to the hospital for after-op treatment, a nurse may be needed, grants for mobility-aids (wheel chair), heating costs, general household expenses, etc. They can in fact be a Godsend for those who choose to use them.
If the patient gets past the first 12 months, much of the healing that can be done, has already been done, and life can start getting back to as normal as possible. Although, life will never be the same again, as it will be much more limited in the things that a patient can do compared to before the operation took place.
There are many reasons why someone may have had their lung removed, although 90% of the time it is associated with lung cancer which is usually related to smoking. When this is the case, the prognosis of the after-op lung patient is usually quite short; however, certain factors must first be taken into consideration before any assessment as to the patient's expected quality of life, and life-expectancy can be given.
These may include: the reason why the lung was removed, the age and gender of the patient, if a transplant lung was used, how healthy the remaining lung was at the time of the operation, the general health of the patient, how well the patient respond to treatment, etc.
These are all factors that can have some bearing on what will happen to the patient after surgery; although, it is quite common for treatment and check-ups to continue for the rest of the patient's life, whatever the reason.
Philip was born in the United Kingdom. Today he works as a freelance writer in Mexico, where he spends much of his time researching and writing about health related issues. If you feel that you have benefited from reading one of his articles: please recommend them to others who may also benefit. Thank you for reading Philip's articles!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Albert_Edmonds-Hunt
No comments:
Post a Comment