How to Prepare for your Pneumonectomy – An Overview

The daunting day of surgery is just around the corner and you need to make sure you are completely prepared for what is about to happen and the after effects of the surgery.

Firstly your healthcare provider or physician should have given you specific instructions about where you need go in the medical facility and what time you need to arrive to get settles and meet the team.

The first thing you personal need to do is make lists; For example you need to take a list of all the medicines you are currently taken, whether these are prescribed by your doctor, over the counter medication like paracetemol or supplements and vitamins.

When you make your list, make sure you put the full technical term for the medication, along with how much you take and when in the day you take them.

You also need to make your physician aware of any allergies you may suffer from. This is highly important for any doctor’s visit or stay in hospital.

When it comes to the day before your surgery you may be asked to stop taking certain types of medicine (please ask for advice from your doctor). If you still smoke, you need to stop immediately. You will also be asked to not consume any food or drink for at least eight hours before the surgery is due to commence.

When you are packing your bag to take in to hospital with you, you need to be prepared to be in for at least five to seven days following the Pneumonectomy. However, some people take longer to recover and may be required to reside in hospital longer.

It is advisable to have someone drive you so the hospital and help you get settled in. This person needs to be someone you trust, can confide in and someone who will offer you emotion and physical support. Also, most people will not be able to drive home after being discharged, so prearranging a lift is also advisable.

(PLESE NOTE: the information above is for guidelines and information only; it should not be taken literally and should not replace any information given by medical professionals)

Plural Plaques - Your Questions Answered

Pleural plaques first appear around 20 years after a person is exposed to asbestos. Ahead of the 1970s, when asbestos legal guidelines came into effect, infinite workers in industries that include mining, construction and shipping were exposed to serious degrees of asbestos. Considering that it that it takes about 30-40 years for asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma to develop, the sufferers currently experiencing symptoms likely make up the last large wave of occupation-related asbestos disease cases.

What are plural plaques?

Plaques are little, localised areas of fibrosis caused by exposure to asbestos fibres, discovered throughout the pleura of each lung. The existence of pleural plaques is an indicator that a person has been disclosed to asbestos.

Like pleural thickening, pleural plaque is benign (non-cancerous) and cannot turn malignant. It is also, not necessarily a definite sign of an asbestos lung disease. Even so, many persons who develop pleural plaques also develop pleural effusion, asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma or even other asbestos-related diseases.

Pleural plaques could appear even with low-dose, intermittent exposure. This stands in contrast to asbestosis, or pulmonary fibrosis, which builds up only after a precise dose threshold has been crossed. However, pleural plaques happen to be present in patients with asbestosis and can be present in patients with mesothelioma.

While non-cancerous sorts of asbestos lung disease can be treated with medicament (for inflammation) and oxygen, malignant mesothelioma is lethal and nearly always worsens and leads to death.

Available Treatments...

When pleural plaques are clinically determined the illness does not call for any type of medical therapy. Since the plaques do not cause symptoms and their formation is non-life threatening their removal is pointless and no new treatments exist. Yet, patients that are diagnosed with pleural plaques are well advised to schedule regular check-ups. These regular physicals can help doctors monitor the growth and development of the plaques or scarring. As part of a typical check-up patients are requested to undergo pulmonary (breathing) tests to monitor lung function. Pulmonary tests, along with other routine tests, can be used to consider the patient's condition and rule out the development of other asbestos-related diseases.

Asbestosis: 5 Questions You Need to Ask Your Doctor!

Asbestosis is a chronic long term lung disease that is caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is a soft, greyish-white material that does not burn to touch. However, it can be very dangerous.

Asbestos was used in the past in building construction and ship yards to protect against fire and as a form of insulation.

If someone breathes in the dust particles, the lungs can become scared leading to shortness of breath and a severe cough.

If you have been diagnosed with asbestosis you will have a lot of questions for your doctor but may not know where to start. Below is a list of possible questions to help you organise your thoughts:

1.       What are the possible symptoms of asbestosis?

The symptoms can differ from person to person, these can include; pains in the chest, lethargy, decreased lung capacity can cause shortness of breath, respiratory failure, finger deformity, the formation of plural plagues. A Cough is a rare symptom of asbestosis unlike mesothelioma.

2.       Is there a cure?

Sadly, there is no cure for pulmonary asbestosis. It is a progressive disease. There are some minor cases of asbestosis that can be treated with a level of success however; disease management tends to be the ultimate goal. This involves physical and emotional life changes.

3.       What drugs are used to treat and control asbestosis?

There are no drugs that can treat patients completely from asbestosis and doctors will mainly look at using drugs for symptom relief. Patients may be prescribed oxygen therapy to help with shortness of breath, nebulizer medication, corticosteroids, immunosuppressors, flu vaccine, and medication to relax the blood vessel walls. It is very rare that a patient with undergo a lung transplant.

4.       Do the prescribed drugs have side effects too?

A doctor or pharmacist will go in to more detail about the types of medication that can be prescribed depending on your personal needs. However, for information purposes immunosuppressors may cause hyperglycaemia, hypertension, stomach ulcers, and kidney or liver damage.

5.       Will you need to be hospitalised?

This will be dependent on the individual and how acute or aggressive there condition is. It is likely that you will need to be hospitalised at some point to undergo aggressive treatment but this is something that will need to be discussed with your specialist.

Mesothelioma – Symptoms, Treatment and Causes

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos that develops on the protective lining that exists in every body around many of the vital organs. It most commonly affects the pleura (the protective layer outside the lungs), but can also affect the lining of the abdominal cavity, the heart and the testes.

Symptoms

The symptoms of mesothelioma do not appear for between 20 and 50 years after asbestos exposure and they can include the following:

• Shortness of breath

• Chest wall pain

• Pleural effusion

• Fatigue

• Anaemia

• Wheezing and coughing

• Coughing up blood

Treatment

Mesothelioma is a very aggressive form of cancer and the prognosis is not good for those suffering from it, however there are treatments available. Surgery is an option but by itself has not led to very satisfactory survival rates. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy used at the same time as surgery has had varied success and it is often the best chance at elongating a life.

Causes

As mentioned the main cause of mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. People who have worked with or in close proximity to asbestos for an extended period of time are particularly susceptible, such as cladders, miners and asbestos removal men.

7 Lung Diseases and their Symptoms

 The Disease               

1) Asthma – asthma affects around 5.4 million people in the UK and the complaint has increased significantly since the 1970s.

The usual symptoms of asthma include shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and tightness of the chest.   

2) Bronchitis – this disease can be split into 2 categories: acute and chronic. Acute can occur as part of a cold or flu but chronic is more serious and can last for months.

Symptoms can be similar to a cold or flu but often become worse over time if not treated. Symptoms include a dry cough, wheezing and discomfort in the chest.

3) Emphysema – emphysema is a long term progressive lung disease that destroys tissues in the lungs which are necessary to protect their physical shape.

The symptoms of emphysema include a shortness of breath on exertion and an expanded chest.

4) Lung cancer – lung cancer is the most common fatal cancer in men and women and millions of new cases are recorded every year.

Symptoms of lung cancer include shortness of breath, coughing up blood, chronic coughing, wheezing, chest pain, weight loss, fatigue and loss of appetite.

5) Pneumonia – this is an inflammatory condition of the lungs and can be caused by a number of things, such as infection or injury to the lungs.

The symptoms include coughing, chest pain, difficulty breathing and fever.

6) Asbestosis – this is a condition caused by exposure to asbestos fibres that have been retained in the lungs.

Chest pain, coughing and shortness of breath are usually present in an individual with asbestosis.

7) Mesothelioma – this is a rare form of cancer that affects the protective lining that covers the internal organs and can be caused by asbestos exposure.

Chest wall pain, pleural effusion, shortness of breath, fatigue, anaemia, wheezing and coughing up blood are common symptoms of mesothelioma. 

Diagnosis of Mesothelioma

Diagnosing mesothelioma is usually hard, because the conditions appear like those of a number of other conditions. Diagnosis starts with a study of the patient's medical record. A history of contact with asbestos may amplify clinical suspicion for mesothelioma. A physical examination is performed, followed by chest X ray and often lung function diagnostic tests. The X ray may disclose pleural thickening commonly seen after asbestos exposure and increases suspicion of mesothelioma. A CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI is often done. If a lot of of fluid is present, abnormal cells may be discovered by cytopathology if this fluid is drawn out with a syringe. For pleural fluid, this is done by thoracentesis or tube thoracostomy (chest tube) ; for ascites, with paracentesis or ascitic drain ; and for pericardial (disambiguation needed) effusion with pericardiocentesis. While lack of malignant cells on cytology does not entirely exclude mesothelioma, it makes it a great deal more unlikely.

Mesothelioma

Many people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where these individuals breathed in asbestos and glass particles, or they have been exposed to asbestos debris and fiber in other methods. It has also been proposed that washing the clothes of a family member who did work while using asbestos or glass can put a person vulnerable for developing mesothelioma. Unlike lung cancer, there is no association between mesothelioma and smoking, but smoking in a big way multiplies the risk of other asbestos-induced cancers. Those who have been exposed to asbestos often employ lawyers to gather damages for asbestos-related disease, including mesothelioma. Repayment via asbestos funds or lawsuits is an notable issue in mesothelioma.

The ailments of mesothelioma include shortness of breath due to pleural effusion (fluid between the lung and the chest wall) or chest wall pain, and general problems such as weight loss. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X ray and CT scan.