Last Updated on May 27, 2023 by hassan abbas
Mesothelioma surgery gives patients the greatest chance to improve their disease prognosis. Learning about the mesothelioma recovering process will help patients become more confident about their healing process, which can help these patients get better more rapidly.
Surgery plays an essential role in mesothelioma treatment and has significantly expanded the survival rate of most patients diagnosed with that rare form of the disease. Despite the success of surgery as an effective treatment for mesothelioma, many patients often question how going through a surgical procedure can affect their overall quality of life. A major concern voiced by patients is how much recovery time is needed from mesothelioma surgery.
Recovery Through Mesothelioma Surgical Procedure
For many key mesothelioma surgeries, recovery may take up to two weeks in a hospital. However, recovery at home will require an additional six to eight weeks. Different mesothelioma surgical procedures require different recovery times. In an extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP), patients have to stay in a hospital for up to two weeks after the surgery, and full recovery may take a further eight weeks. Also, physiotherapy and walking are a crucial part of mesothelioma recovery. Pleurectomy takes a week after surgery with an additional four weeks for complete mesothelioma recovery. However, cytoreduction recovery may vary depending on the severity of mesothelioma spread through the abdominal region. At least five weeks are required for recovery with complete bed rest at the beginning of the recovery phase.
Speaking with an experienced mesothelioma professional will help patients understand the surgical procedure and how it affects the patient’s quality of life. Visit mesotheliomahope.com to understand more about mesothelioma recovery.
Diagnostic Surgery Recovery
There are various procedures for the diagnosis of mesothelioma that need surgery. Procedures such as laparotomy or thoracoscopy are an extremely crucial part of the mesothelioma diagnostic process, as they give tissue samples that will verify a mesothelioma diagnosis. In-hospital mesothelioma recovery time for diagnostic procedures ranges from one to four days.
After getting diagnostic surgery, the patient is taken to the recovery room, where the patient care team provides them with pain-relieving medications and fluids. The doctor will inject a thin tube in the patient’s chest cavity throughout a thoracoscopy to drain excessive fluid. The patient care team or doctor will normally remove the chest tube about one to two days after the surgery.
Recovering By Pleurectomy with Decortication (P/D)
A pleurectomy with decortication includes the removal of the pleura (lining of the lung) affected by mesothelioma. The doctor also eliminates any noticeable tumors surrounding the diseased lung throughout the surgical procedure.
After the P/D, nurses will help patients sit up in their beds and walk around the room slowly. Depending on the patient’s response to the surgical procedure, the healthcare team will have their patient up and walking in one or two days. Gentle physical activity after a P/D can help cut down on patients’ recovery time by stimulating their digestive tract. Moreover, breathing exercises are encouraged to help patients fully inflate their lungs, decreasing the risk of getting post-surgery pneumonia.
Recovery at home can take more than four weeks. At-home mesothelioma recovery requires breathing exercises and light walking to support the patient’s ease in a normal movement level.
Recovering Through an Extrapleural Pneumonectomy (EPP)
The extrapleural pneumonectomy is a vast procedure during which the lung, pericardium (the heart’s lining), and the entire diaphragm are removed from the patient’s body. Due to the invasiveness of the EPP procedure, a sufficient amount of recovery time is necessary.
After getting an EPP surgery, patients are needed to recover in-hospital for over two weeks. During that time, the surgeon and nurses closely monitor their patient’s vital signs to ensure that no problems result from that surgery. All hospital staff ensures that the patient’s pulse, blood pressure, and breathing are completely normal during the initial days following the surgery. Because an EPP needs to eliminate the whole diseased lung, the patient must use a respirator to support the shift into breathing with one lung.
After the hospital’s two-week stay, recovery can continue at home for eight more weeks. The patient’s care team can encourage a lot of breathing exercises and light walking. These exercises play a great role in supporting patients get used to breathing with only one lung.
Recovering From Cytoreduction
Professionals utilize cytoreductive surgery to eliminate parts of the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen) damaged by mesothelioma and any other visible tumor. Cytoreductive surgery needs a longer recovery time than an EPP or P/D because this surgical procedure can considerably affect the patient’s entire digestive system and organs near it.
In-hospital recovery will take over two weeks, with the patient receiving different fluids and pain-killing medications. Most of the recovery time of a patient is spent at their home and may last up to three weeks.
The patient must take medication, vitamins, and food intravenously at home. It helps take the strain off their digestive system until it becomes healthy enough to start working normally (in over three weeks).
Conclusion
Mesothelioma surgery will have an enormously beneficial impact on the patient diagnosed with this rare disease. Understandably, most patients are worried about surgical procedures’ effects on their overall health and quality of life. A professional mesothelioma expert will help you identify if surgery is the right choice. Also, they can openly discuss with you every detail on how getting surgery will impact your wellness and life.
