Thoracoscopy Experience

I had a spot on my upper left lobe, that was found by accident, and was told by one doctor that I needed to have my entire upper left lobe removed. Initially, I was told of the surgery would be of the horror stories I’ve read here if I had it done locally. I went to Strong Memorial in Rochester, NY and had a woman that was on top of her game and an instructor of thoracic surgery. She did it thoracoscopically. I was in on Friday morning and out on Monday morning. No ICU, right to a room. I had the Foley Catheter for one day and the chest tube for two days and I felt no pain when either was pulled. I have a 1 inch scar on my left side and a 2 1/2 inch on the left side of my back. I had 3 stitches, my back was glued shut. I worked from home and was back working part time on Wednesday and was driving again on the same day. She took a piece the size of a tangerine. This is what you get when you go to a top flight university hospital and a top surgeon in her field. I will be forever grateful to Dr. Carolyn Jones. My five years of follow ups is next month, February, 2019, but I plan on having low dose CT scans for life. By the way, I smoked for 26 years and was off cigarettes for 18 years when this was done.