Lobectomy is not a household word. Yet you might be hearing a buzz about Pulmonary Lobectomy due to US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s recent cancer experience. The recent lobectomy brought the best of holiday news to the friends and family of Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg at a most welcome time. They learned she had yet again beaten cancer.
Good Wishes for Happy, Healthy Holidays from FLASS to you!
Before we tell her story, please accept genuine good wishes from our hearts and homes to yours, for blessed holiday time. And see our special holiday message after the story, below.
Pulmonary Lobectomy Recently Performed on Famous of the US Supreme Court
Nodules and specifically lung cancer nodules are never good news. But one thing is certain, few words inspire more relief than when your thoracic surgeon says, “We think we got it all.” And that is the reassurance we are hearing in reference to Justice Ginsberg’s recent cancer surgery. But let’s examine the story leading up to the surgery.
A Lucky Fall for Justice of the Supreme Court Ginsburg
Question: When can a fall that breaks two ribs be a stroke of luck?
Answer: Such a fall is fortunate when it results in good diagnostic tests that reveal cancer at an early stage.
Lobectomies stop the spread of cancer in the lungs.
Many people will remember how quickly the judge recovered from her fractured ribs in a fall on Nov. 7. However, doctors found nodules on Justice Ginsburg’s lungs as a result of her x-rays and tests from that fall. Then came the recent lung cancer surgery.
“This is just luck.” This was the statement by Dr. Giuseppe Giaccone. Dr. Giaccone is an oncologist at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Luck is seldom associated with the discovery of cancer or broken ribs. However, Dr. Giaccone’s statement referred to the fact that the growths were found accidentally, which is quite often how lung cancer is detected. Lucky.
A Previous Cancer History: Was it a Warning to Pulmonologists?
Dr. John Lazar, director of thoracic robotic surgery at Med Star Washington Hospital Center, said it’s not “uncommon to see slow-growing lung cancers in women in their 80’s. And they tend to respond well to surgery…”You might remember that Justice Ginsburg has had previous battles with cancer. In 2009, doctors “detected a lesion on her pancreas, “during a routine screening following Ginsburg’s colorectal cancer from 10 years before.” Consequently, the physicians removed two growths from her pancreas. One of them was cancerous. The other one was benign. Doctors removed them both.
The final word: This week, Dr. Giaccone said Ginsburg’s previous bouts with cancer were “so long ago they’re unlikely to be related.” Then he added, “If she doesn’t need anything but the surgery, it is a very good sign.” And so far physicians have prescribed no chemotherapy or further surgery.
Pulmonary Lobectomy: So, What Type of Surgery Did the Justice Endure?
On Friday of last week, the doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York performed a procedure called a pulmonary lobectomy. They removed the growths and identified them as malignant in the initial pathological tests.
Pulmonary Lobectomy-A Little Bit of Anatomy
A little bit of anatomy clarifies the name of this operation. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine. “The lungs have sections called lobes. There are three lobes on the right and two on the left. A lobectomy is a surgery to remove one or more of those lobes.” Thus, physicians prescribe a pulmonary lobectomy when a problem is found in part of a lung. When the afflicted lobe is removed, the remaining healthy lung tissue works normally.
Pulmonary Lobectomy-A Little Bit About Procedure
1. FLASS has noticed that the justice’s operation has aroused public interest. However, we want you to know every patient’s surgical case is unique. “Pulmonary Lobectomy is a common treatment option for lung cancer, especially if the growth is contained to one part of the lung,” according to Moffitt Cancer Center.
Lung Scans Will Guard the Patient’s Health after Lobectomy.
2. The actual surgery could involve more than one procedure.
3. The location and type of your tumors define the type of procedures you need.
4. The surgeon has several options. He might remove a tumor, a section of a lobe, and one or more lobes of a lung. If necessary, he might even remove an entire lung.
5. There are three major surgical possibilities. They are invasive open chest procedure, the less-invasive video-assisted method, and the robotic method. In the open chest cavity procedure, the surgeon makes a classic incision which typically begins at the nipple and wraps around the patient’s side under the shoulder blade. This gives him access to the lungs.
6. Alternatively, with Video-assisted pleuroscopic surgery (VATS) the surgeon makes 3 or 4 small incisions instead of the traditional large incision. Then, one incision accommodates a tiny camera and light which transmits imagery to a computer screen. Then the surgeon can utilize the other two incisions to insert other surgical instruments within the chest cavity.
Robot-Assisted Pulmonary Lobectomy: A Step into the Robotic Future
7. The most recent addition to the options for pulmonary lobectomy is robotic surgery. It is not science fiction anymore.
The World Famous Surgical Robot Steps out of Sci-Fi
A surgeon makes small incisions between the ribs and controls robotic arms from a console.
8. Other than making headlines, the robotic type of surgery has highly appreciative effects on the patients.
Dr. Vincent P. Laudone, co-director of the robotic surgery program in Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Department of Surgery stated, “They often have less bleeding and they recover more quickly than patients who have endured the open chest cavity method or VATS,”
And then he added, “The bottom line is that it is the skill of the surgeon, working with the tool that he or she is most comfortable with, that gets the best result.”
He summarized, “And the main objective of any cancer operation — no matter how it is done — is to get all the cancer out and get it out safely.”
9. The Moffitt Cancer Center reports, “After the procedure, many patients find that their lungs work just as well or better than they did before,”
In the case of Justice Ginsberg’s surgery, whichever of the above types it was, Surgeon, Dr. Valerie W. Rusch announced there was “no evidence of any remaining disease.”
A Hopeful Nation Sends Wishes for Quick Recovery
FLASS joins hundreds of thousands of Americans who wish Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a speedy recovery. And likewise, we appreciate the comments of “the actor and conservative commentator James Woods, who stated, “This is good news in the fight against a terrible disease.”
Our Annual Holiday Message
The Gift of Family Means the Most at Christmas
We know this time of year can be commercial. We know it is full of marketing and financial stress. But we still love it.
We love the innocence and charm, charity and joy represented by the holidays.
So, we would be remiss if we did not wish our patients, friends and blog readers, “Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year and a Blessed Kwanzaa.”
The doctors and staff of FLASS genuinely feel there is no greater place than home for the holidays…
…and no greater holiday gift than looking into the eyes of our loved ones and saying, “I love you.