[JimDirt]

Not sure if everyone remembers , but when i had my heart attack in January , they found a Nodule in my right lung .........well...... since then till June it remained unchanged in appearance , i just had a PET Scan last week , they also inject a Radioactive Isotope that is Glucose based , as some may know , sugar/glucose is attracted to cancer , so they inject it to see if it finds any , well , it found it , the nodule ,, which also has grown in the last 3 months from about 1cm (1/4 inch) to 3cm (1-1/4 inch) , so it growing rapidly now along with the scan injection going straight to it ,which has them 99.9% positive its cancer , it is also surrounded by Emphysema .......soooooo

What the plan is , is i get a new Lung Function Test ( i had one in 2015) within the next week , they will then take the readings from that , and determine what my lung capacity and restrictions will be if they have to remove 1/3rd of my (the complete upper lobe) right lung , the plan is to arthroscopically remove a pie shaped wedge from the area surrounding the nodule , including completely removing the nodule , then they take it down to Pathology and do a biopsy , they should have a definite result within 30 minutes , if its NOT cancer then they staple my lung back up , keep me for 2 days in case the lung leaks , then send me on my way......If it comes back positive and IS cancer (they are 99.9% positive this will be the case) then they remove the complete upper lobe (1/3rd) of my right lung , keep me for 2 -3 days , then send me home for 2 weeks of not doing much of anything , they do not expect to need to do any radiation or Chemo because they will be removing any area that is infused with cancer , then after the 2 weeks , they said i "should" be able to start doing everything i have been , including riding , they think that because i have been track riding , and exerting myself heavily , that my chances are very good that i will not notice much difference ,(hopefully if all goes well) though i will notice some decline in breathing capacity , they are hoping that as active as i am it will be minimal , so i am hoping for the best , i just found all this out yesterday , and did not get home till 11pm after stopping by and talking to my family about this , , the good part about this is ,besides the obvious , that since i have a large amount of emphysema in the upper part of my lungs , is that when they remove that section it will remove a good deal of the emphysema ................i have been trying to keep busy either on here or just doing things at home , to keep my mind occupied , as this was another pile of stuff i did not need after all i have already been thru this years so far , i guess it ain't over yet..... but hopefully this is the last of the bad stuff and things will get better , i am already riding a lot better once i modified my clutch side grip so i can actually hold on now , but i am still not back up to my old speed , but considering everything , i am happy where i am at and glad i can still ride at all , let along decently .....


Anyway , this should happen within the next few weeks i would guess , they will take me off the Plavix about a week before surgery and then things will move pretty quickly from there..........................just when i thought i was making progress....bam.... , trying to stay positive , and keeping busy , i will try riding again Sat and Sun this weekend , just so i can get some stress relief......

[Aussiecrf230]

Well Jim life is one thing after another. Surprised they let it go so long to see if it grew. Thought it would have been removed earlier if they suspected it was cancer. Well if you get rid of a bit of the diseased lung at the same time I suppose that is a bonus and since it is not being used at the moment you should feel much loss in lung capacity. Good luck with the operation and keep it touch.

[Back2-2]

Sorry to hear that Jim. Good luck to you mate, hope it all turns out as well as possible !

[JimDirt]

Thanks guys !

Update , i just got the call , so i go tomorrow to Boise (85 miles) to get the Lung Function Test , then i guess we will go from there

[JimDirt]

Update:

Still waiting on actual Dr. to call , but had the Function Test and the Tech matched it to my last test in 2015 and she said they are very similar , which is good if its the case , as that would mean i would do well with a portion of my lung removed (most likely what will happen) , so i am now awaiting the Dr. to call and give me the estimation of loss i would have in breathing with the lung section removed , then start the scheduling for me to go off the blood clot med , which would indicate 1-2 week timeframe till surgery from that point ..........

So right now i am still about 2 or more weeks away from surgery , which will allow me to prepare more for the downtime i will have afterwards , hopefully it will go as they claim and i will have 2 weeks of rest afterwards , then back to normal activities , which is what i am hoping is the case ..................As i know more , i will keep this topic updated......but i am going track riding tomorrow and possibly Sunday as well , to get as much riding in before the surgery and 2+ weeks of downtime afterwards without being able to ride....the Dr. seems to think my riding is what is keeping my lung function up , so he said to continue what i am doing .....never thought i would hear that from a Dr. .......

[Back2-2]

Hey Jim, for what its worth - I am two days from the 3 year mark of when I crashed and punctured a lung and had a collapsed lung to be fixed. I was in the hospital for a week. It took about a year to year and a half until I felt close to full breathing capacity had returned but to this day it never has made it back to what I feel is true full breathing capacity. It took two years for the pain to go away. Of all the crash repairs I had over the years it was the worst. Not sure that helps or hurts [ pun intended ] for giving you a reference.

Good luck and it will all work out.

[JimDirt]

Neil , according to the Dr. its 2 weeks to start "normal activities" after the surgery , which according to the Dr. was also riding , he said it would help the lung work , weather this happens as planned , i have no clue , i was also told by the Technician (not saying its a medical fact) that the lung will expand some as it heals and grow larger than it is directly after the operation , so the capacity will somewhat return to the "normal" i have now , how much merit this holds only time will tell , i know they were worried about doing a biopsy for the concern of a collapsed lung , that , because of the Emphysema , might not return to normal , so there is that too , all i can do is let them do their job , and hope that mine turns out as they claim.... ............ On my way out the door and heading for the MX track , riding today and tomorrow .....

[Back2-2]

That is sure different than my situation. I told zero activity for 4 weeks and very light walks for the 2 weeks after that. That was after being in the hospital for a week. Sounds like you will be back in action much quicker ! Cool deal and again good luck to you !

Speaking of hospitals - I am typing this from the hospital here in Prescott. My mom was having some issues and I had to run to ER yesterday. Brings back really yucky memories of 3 years ago,,,,,,,,,

[JimDirt]

Sorry to hear that , i hope she is alright

When they worked on you , did they cut you open from back to front and remove ribs ??? , as the way they do any lung surgery now , its 3 small holes and minimal recovery because they don't remove ribs or cut thru muscle , so its supposed to be less invasive , and yes , i was kind of shocked when he told me 2 weeks after about 2-3 days in the hospital , and the only reason for the few days was to be monitored in case the lung leaked air , since its stapled not stitched...... all i am hoping is its close to what they claim , if it is , i will be very happy , if not , i guess i will find out then , i just can't figure out how it can heal up enough to put it to the test by breathing heavily in only 2 weeks , but i guess they know what they are talking about , or at least i hope so

I am riding again tomorrow , as the workout should help with my lung being strong before surgery , we did 4 30 minute motos today , , for a total of 2 hours of actual hard riding , it was definitely a workout , especially in the heat today , it was 97 today , and its supposed to be 102 tomorrow , we got to the track at 9am , tomorrow it will be more like 11 , so it will already be getting hot by the time we start riding

As for pain , so far my wrist has been the worst , it has hurt more and is still very sensitive to any kind of abuse even 1 year later , if i even so much as bump my hand against something , its like i hit it with a hammer , my 3 broken back injuries and my broken neck had not given me as much discomfort for long term than my wrist has , as far as intense pain and aching , and i still need more surgeries on it to get it a little better pain wise (so they say) , but all this other stuff going on with me has taken priorities over everything else...

[Back2-2]

They worked on me through the side about 6 inches below the arm pit. My lung was punctured in the top and collapsed the bottom. I had to have a vacuum pump tube attached for several days to pull blood out of the lung.
I think it was probably just different circumstances and maybe they do things differently. I know that the first ER I was in did not handle that heavy of a trauma injury so I was rushed to a specialty trauma ER to handle stuff like that.
Worst pain I have ever experienced in my life of many injuries. That was really, really bad...

Sounds like you have a good plan and will be rolling quickly.

[JimDirt]

My friend thought it was better that we ride tomorrow instead of Sunday/today , as he was moving slow this morning (he is 4 months younger than me , so he will be 58 in Dec.) so he figured it best to work on the bikes and do yard work that was getting pushed aside for riding (same for me) so i washed my truck and bike , changed air filter , and am just starting on yard work after i eat lunch , then tomorrow we will hit the track at 8am .. my other buddy we ride with drove to Horn Rapids MX in Richland Washington(Tri-Cities) from Payette Idaho (about 280 miles) , he is going up for the day for practice , then driving back home tonight

But anyway , i am hoping all goes as the Dr.'s say and i am on my feet and doing "normal" things after 2 weeks rest , it would be great if i can have little down time in between so i don't have to start over with fitness , as it seems i just start recovering from one thing and i have another major issue that sets me back , hopefully this time its different....

[Back2-2]

Mom had a stroke and they are doing zillion tests. No evident damage so that's good. Lots and lots of hours here at the hospital but that is just part of it.

Thinking about my lung / ribs I think maybe it was the broken ribs that required the light duty. Not sure anymore ? Bad memories, but I do remember that it took a long time to ever take a deep full breath.

Hang in there Jim. You'll get it ! Safe riding.

[JimDirt]

Sorry to hear that Neil , i hope she gets thru it OK , is she going to lose mobility or anything like that ?? , or need special care afterwards ??

As far as ribs go , i have cracked and bruised ribs before in a single mishap and that was very painful , almost as bad as when i had Kidney Stones , just unbearable pain that never seemed to let up , and i could never get comfortable , it took about a month to where i could cough or sneeze without feeling like i was going to pass out .....

[Aussiecrf230]

Split the cartilage between the ribs and breath, and you will know pain. It was much worse than broken ribs. Good luck with it Jim.

[JimDirt]

Split the cartilage between the ribs and breath, and you will know pain. It was much worse than broken ribs. Good luck with it Jim.

Ray , so far i have been lucky with injuries , only a few real major ones in 58 years , this lung thing has me worried , especially with my family history , all i know is the Dr.'s can't get this thing out of me fast enough ,my last test (the last test they said i needed) was on the 30th , so hopefully within the next day or so i will hear from them , as i will still have at least a week to wait after i hear from him , to be off the meds , before they can do any surgery at all ,