Hi,
Our mom had a pleural effusion and after about 2 weeks fluid was building up again so they recommended the "talc procedure." I was looking for any advice from anyone who has had this procedure. They told us 24 hours she would be in the hospital and then right after the procedure they told us at least 3 to 4 days. She is in worse pain than after her brain surgery and has constantly been crying with no sleep. I am hoping that this is just the chest tube that is bothering her but I was curious about anyone's experience with this procedure. She is very out of it and her oxygen levels keep dipping down to 86. We are so worried because we don't know what she is supposed to be feeling or what is normal vs. abnormal. I just needed some guidance to help my sister who is at the hospital with her a nervous wreck. Thanks!
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pleurodesis
- By castay
- Posted May 2, 2008 at 9:48 am · 6 replies
- In Non-small cell lung cancer - Stage IV
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- By WIgirl
- Posted May 2, 2008 at 9:58 am
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My Dad had this procedure done several weeks ago and it was a complete success. He was in a lot of pain, but the hospital kept him as medicated as possible. We were also quite worried for awhile, it seemed that after the procedure he actually seemed to get worse. He wasn't able to breath very well at all and like I said was in a lot of pain. However, after a couple of weeks the pain diminished and the fluid did not return. We were lucky and had an excellent doctor that literally sat with us for hours explaining the procedure and calming our fears. Hang in there, I hope everything goes well.
- By Joycen
- Posted May 2, 2008 at 11:37 am
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My husband had over 6 liters of fluid in his chest which was drained twice (thoracentesis) before he was hospitalized with a chest tube for 9 days to try to get the fluid down enough for the pleurodesis to have a chance of success. He was also heavily medicated for pain. I am assuming that your mother has just had the chest tube insertion part of the procedure. One nurse remarked that insertion and, unfortunately, removal of the chest tube can be "pretty uncomfortable." My husband said that anyone who says that procedure is just "pretty uncomfortable" has obviously never experienced it himself. The good news is that the pleuordesis was incredibly successful. They literally put the talc mixture in the chest tube and roll you around to distribute it. I am trying to remember if my husband went home later that day or the next, but it was pretty quickly (the 9 days was mostly because his fluid was building up so rapidly they had a hard time draining it enough). His improvement was rapid and complete and he eventually was able to walk 2-3 miles again. He never had any problems with breathing from then on until his death two years later (from widespread metastasis). I am always amazed to read of so many people with repeated pleural effusion whose physicians have not mentioned the procedure. I credit it with an amazing turnaround in my husband's quality of life.
- By yvette1
- Posted May 3, 2008 at 8:43 am
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My mom had 3 taps before her pleurodesis and was in the hospital for 5 days, but didn't complain too much about the pain but her O2 sats were low and accompanied by periods of mental confusion which improved but she was never able to live alone after that.
They thought the pluerodesis didn't work when the original discomfort came back but a subsequent CT showed it had been effective.
- By gpawelski
- Posted May 3, 2008 at 11:48 am
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There's an interesting caveat about pleurodesis (injecting talc) for pleural effusion.
University of Florida researchers report that talc has the ability to stunt cancer growth by cutting the flow of blood to metastatic lung tumors. Their study revealed that talc stimulates healthy cells to produce endostatin.
Talc causes tumor growth to slow down and actually decreases the tumor bulk. Talc is able to prevent the formation of blood vessels, thereby killing the tumor and choking off its growth. The tumors appeared to grow much slower and in some cases completely disappeared.
http://www.inspire.com/groups/lung-cancer-alliance-survivors/discussion/tal c-stunts-growth-of-lung-tumors/
- By MarciaGreer
- Posted May 3, 2008 at 2:15 pm
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My pleurodesis stay ended up being 7 days (supposed to be 3-4) and I was very uncomfortable. But after a week the acute lung pain was gone. It did take months for the tight feeling and pain at the incision to mostly go away. But the fluid hasn't come back and that was a year ago. But it sounds like your mom is experiencing much worse pain than I did. One thing I learned during my hospital stay is you have to be aggressive to get the nurses to keep the pain medication coming.
Marcia
- By magigwn
- Posted May 3, 2008 at 4:54 pm
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I too had the procedure, actually 2 times, because my lung kept collapsing for no reason (known as a 'spontaneous pneumothorax'), and I don't have another lung since I lost it to cancer. I received an epidural catheter both times so I would not feel any pain, and the epidural worked marvelously well. I'm surprised that hasn't been offered for your mother...? The reason I had them done was to prevent the lung collapse by forming scar tissue between the inner lining & outer lining of the lung,in the pleural space. For my purposes they worked, and the epidural was a lifesaver because it worked in my lung region just as it does for pregnant women.
Good luck in the future, and God blees you !
glenn
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