What to expect after a lobectomy?

I Am having a left upper lobectomy my lung cancer is in stage 1. what can I expect ?

• The doctor orderd a chest xray. I have QUIT SMOKING on sept 15TH. I've had a CT scan a lung biopsy and a mediastinoscopy .surgey is on jan 3rd 2008.

• Answer:

  stage 1 is the first stage of cancer... you're lucky! that means the cancer is isolated in one area of the body and less than a certain size (i think 2 cm is the guideline). basically they can remove the whole cancerous area from your lung and you'll be free of cancer. lung surgery is not a minor procedure but most patients do very well and recover fairly quickly. after surgery you may experience pain (obviously), shortness of breath, fluid in your lungs (hopefully not but it's always possible), coughing, general weakness, and other normal post-op side effects. usually this is minor and should go away in a few days. you'll also have a chest tube to keep fluid drained and allow your lungs to expand properly. after surgery you'll need radiation or chemo treatments short term but the overall cure and survival rate is very high for stage 1! here's a decent link http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/lung-surgery-thoracotomy-for-lung-cancer