Keith1955 Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Aug. 18, 2017 My name is Ernest Matthews, I am 61. They called me Monday and told me the CT Scan showed a small nodule on my lung and wanted me to get a PET Scan. I got a PET Scan this morning and I am scared. I know its only 1 nodule but should I be this worried. I dont know the size they just said it was a small nodule. rbarlow72 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 My name is Ray. We have a similar situation. My X-ray and CAT scan showed a large mass on my left lung. Now I'm scheduled for a PET Scan next week to see if it spread. Speaking from a whole two days of experience, my strategy is to just wait until definitive results either confirm or disallow a diagnosis of cancer and/or type & stage. Then, a thoughtful decision on future pathways is guided by objective data and not fear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith1955 Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 Thank you. I try to act like It's no big deal to everyone, but when I am at home alone Im not so brave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbarlow72 Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Thank you for the advice...I am sorry you are going through this too. Prayers that you get good results on your PET scan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbarlow72 Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 56 minutes ago, Keith1955 said: Aug. 18, 2017 My name is Ernest Matthews, I am 61. They called me Monday and told me the CT Scan showed a small nodule on my lung and wanted me to get a PET Scan. I got a PET Scan this morning and I am scared. I know its only 1 nodule but should I be this worried. I dont know the size they just said it was a small nodule. Prayers Ernest. I know how scared you are. I had a CAT scan state that I have an 11 mm lung nodule. I am 45 years old. So I know its scary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith1955 Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 Wow I feel like a wimp worrying about mine. I have read some of the stories on here and I am so amazed at how brave these people are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Ernest, Ray and Rbarlow, welcome here. I try and promptly welcome all the new folks but see you've met one another and are properly introduced. I'm Tom and we all have but one thing in common. We all are experiencing or have experienced life on the staging and typing trail. My trail started on February 4, 2004 by coughing up blood and after a CT resulted in a diagnosis with a 7 cm long tumor filling the main stem bronchus of my right lung. One day I was fine, not even short of breath, and the next I was not. A biopsy confirmed non small cell, Squamous cell, lung cancer. You have nodules now and hopefully they will remain just nodules. There are lots of causes and here is my go to source for the causes. Staging by the way is a way of describing the extent of cancer. Typing results from a pathologist examination of tissue from a biopsy. Biopsies can be obtained by a needle, a surgical procedure, or as part of a surgical resection of your nodule. The results of staging and typing allow a treatment plan to be formulated. One of our members jokingly referred to me as a Jurassic Era survivor and indeed I've been around a long time. I sum up all my experience with but two suggestions. First, know the enemy -- learn about lung cancer. I hyperlinked material from our Lung Cancer 101 resource. I suggest reading every section from beginning to end, perhaps three times. Second, read my profile, the About Me section. After reading, I suggest that if you have lung cancer and I can survive, so can you. I sincerely hope your journey on the trail is a short one. If not, then this place is where you'll find an unusual amalgamation of knowledge and experience that may advantage your treatment. So, welcome here. Stay the course. Tom LaurenH and Mally 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith1955 Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 Tom: Just reading your response made me feel better. Thank you I live alone and feel like I have to deal with this all alone. I know that a small nodule does not mean I have cancer, but it scares the hell out of me. I hope I will get my results early next week. Tom Galli 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Tom: Sincerely appreciate the feedback. Just as an FYI, and if warranted, I'm also contemplating Chinese Herbal therapies to supplement Western approaches to treatment. After spending more than 20 years living and working in Asia, I've had a firsthand opportunity to see herbal (Homeopathic?) medicines work on other diseases. Promising research emerging from academia (University of Washington) tends to support the anecdotal evidence. Anyway, I'm hunkering down in study mode until I have a firm diagnosis of what's happening under the hood. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I've got a follow-up question: In my case there are no outstanding give-away symptoms i.e. weight loss, blood in sputum, shallow breathing, excessive coughing -- Nothing! I feel like I always did, normal. Well, except for a scary CAT Scan that, according to my Dr., "appears to be consistent with cancer", and a wicked daily backache. If this presumptuous mass is, in fact, a Metastatic cancer tumor >7 cm accompanied by spotting in the same lung, then shouldn't I be experiencing some of the typical symptoms? My lack of symptomology seems to contradict the diagnosis. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 Ray, My 7 cm tumor caused no symptoms until I coughed up blood and no pain whatsoever even after I started expelling blood. I went from a normal work day to a week's stay in a hospital for a diagnostic work-up. So my experience doesn't confirm your hypothesis. Further, experience with hundreds of lung cancer survivors suggests the disease almost never displays symptoms till late stage. You have a PET scan forthcoming if memory serves. With a mass that large, the PET ought to be definitive. I know it is hard to be patient because I wasn't. But I also didn't use the diagnostic lag time to read and research. I fretted but my wife researched. Knowledge is power and if you have cancer, you and or a family member needs to be prepared to ask terribly preceptive questions. You are reading into homeopathic methods and that may be helpful but if you are choosing conventional medicine as curative, you should also, my view, be as equally knowledgable with oncology treatments. I don't know if homeopathic methods are curative; surgery, radiation and medical oncology worked for me. Stay the course. Tom LexieCat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith1955 Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 On 8/18/2017 at 5:55 PM, Keith1955 said: Aug. 18, 2017 My name is Ernest Matthews, I am 61. They called me Monday and told me the CT Scan showed a small nodule on my lung and wanted me to get a PET Scan. I got a PET Scan this morning and I am scared. I know its only 1 nodule but should I be this worried. I dont know the size they just said it was a small nodule. They called today with the results of my PET Scan and said they believe the nodule is benign. Mally, Steff, LaurenH and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 Fabulous news, Ernest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexieCat Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 Yay! I'm not sure why you had the CT scan that started this whole thing--was it for a cancer screening? If you're a former smoker or have other significant risk factors, it might be a good idea to have a yearly CT scan to keep an eye on that nodule. One of mine became cancerous a year after I started the annual screenings. If you're NOT at any particular risk for lung cancer, then it's probably just one of those nodules that is sitting there doing no harm and no need to watch it closely. Discuss it with your doctor. But for now, sounds like you're in good shape--be happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith1955 Posted August 23, 2017 Author Share Posted August 23, 2017 Yes sir I am an ex smoker. They want me to get another cat scan in 6 months, but for now Im okay and very happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexieCat Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 Great--you just want to keep an eye on it. With regular scans, if something DOES go bad, they can jump on it right away. That's what happened to me--it was still very small (though slightly larger than before), and the CT/PET showed that nodule as the ONLY thing lighting up--I had my upper left lobe removed, was recovered in no time flat, and don't even have to have chemo or anything--just periodic scans to make sure everything stays happy. When they know what to look for, you can be WAY ahead of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted August 24, 2017 Share Posted August 24, 2017 Keith, How about that! Good for you! Teri's advice is good. Please do ensure you have regular follow-up scans. If something changes, the scan will find it early and early finds yield successful treatment. Stay the course. Tom LaurenH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith1955 Posted August 24, 2017 Author Share Posted August 24, 2017 Thank you all for the advice. Tom Galli 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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