One treatment option for lung cancer may be a pneumonectomy, which is surgery to remove a lung. Because this can permanently reduce your breathing capacity, most surgeons usually try to choose a less extreme form of surgery or they may consider chemotherapy or radiation therapy first. This procedure can be very risky. Short-term complications can include respiratory failure, fluid buildup in the lungs, a blood clot in the lungs, shock, heart problems or pneumonia.
You may not notice the change in your breathing capacity immediately after the surgery. In fact, you'll slowly be able to resume normal activities and your remaining lung will slowly start compensating for the lost one. Unlike the liver, you don't grow new lung tissue, though. That's why recovery can take several weeks. And sometimes pneumonectomy patients feel that their ability to exercise or lift anything heavy is limited by shortness of breath for several months after surgery.
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