We were warned at that point what an extensive surgery it was. It was very painful and really difficult to recover from. Since she was 53 and somewhat of an amateur athlete, my mother was a very likely candidate. She had to do some thinking about what she wanted to do. At the same time, though, time was ticking away and we were told she needed to move fast. Weeks could make a difference with this disease. It had already been close to a month since she had been diagnosed. She decided to have the surgery in Chicago. The surgeon there did what's called a pneumonectomy, which is a fancy word for they take out your lung, basically gut you. It was a really rough time. She spent two weeks in the hospital in Chicago. That was horrible. She said a many times she wanted to die because she couldn't take the pain. She said it hadn't been worth it. After two weeks she was able to make the four hour drive home and started to recover at home. She needed someone with her 24 hours a day. She was very weak and was very down.