buzzy

Update:
I saw a pulmonologist yesterday and really like the guy.  He took time to go over all my CT scans and x-rays, showing me the nodules and telling me exactly what he was seeing and thinking.
First, he thinks the two nodules are totally unrelated to each other.  I said I was concerned about them being bilateral and he said that his gut told him that they were not related but we would keep and eye on them.
The original, smaller nodule at the base of my left lung that measured 6mm in July has remained stable in his mind.  He showed me the comparison of it in Sept. and Dec. and said in his mind it hasn't grown at all and might be beginning to show signs of calcifying.
When I asked about the 6mm vs. 7mm he gave me the same answer you all have given me on here.  He talked about the slices and how intricate a 1mm difference is.  He said he thinks it was between 6 & 7 mm in July and still was between 6 & 7 mm in December.
The bigger, 13.5 mm nodule at the base of my right lung was a different case.  He said the way it developed and the way it looked gave every indication of it being an infection/inflammation.  He even felt it could have been an early stage of pneumonia that the medication stunted before it could really blow up.  Anyway, he said he really felt like it did not look like either lung cancer or metastases. 
He did say that the chest x-ray that was clean in early January didn't really give him any useful information.  The nodule of the left is too small to show up on x-ray and the one on the right is basically hidden by the diaphragm.
He is going to have me get another CT in April more for the bigger one on the right than the one on the left which he feels looks stable.  If the one on the right hasn't grown or has gotten smaller, he said we will follow up in another year or so.
He told me to get back to running, and not dwell on it.  He said if he really believed anything looked suspicious he would move much more quickly.
Anyway, I wanted to update you all.  Hopefully I'll get good news in a few months.
I hope you are all doing well and thank you once again for being so kind and caring to me through this experience.
I really appreciate you all.
 
 

I appreciate you all so much and am praying you all continue to get positive news on your own battles.
thank you all so much.

Tom, Mary and Bruce,
I wanted to share what I felt was some positive news with you that I got today.
Ive been wheezing the past few days so I went to my GP to see what he thought.  Before he examined me he wanted to talk a little about my nodule concerns.  He showed me a report from a ct I had in late September when I had a second kidney stone ER visit.  Since it didn't mention the 6mm nodule found in my left lung in July, he requested that the radiologist that read my December ct checkup to go back and reread the sept ct as a favor.  The radiologist found the nodule and measured it at 7mm, so between Sept. 27 and Dec. 22 there was no change which is a good sign.
After he listened to my lungs he suggested I get a chest Xray to check on the bigger 13.5mm nodule as well as get a look at what might be causing my wheezing.  He called me back a couple hours later and said he had some good news.  The radiologist read the chest Xray as completely clean with no sign of pneumonia or nodules.
Now, he was quick to point out that the Xray is not nearly as sensitive as a ct and that both nodules are likely still their but the fact that it found nothing meant that the 13.5mm nodule that was new in December had most likely not grown and very likely had shrunk some. He said a 13.5mm nodule would most likely show up.
So my good news was that the left nodule is likely stable at the moment and the bigger nodule has shrunk or might even be gone if it was an infection.
Im still going to a pulmonologist on Jan 23 and he will look over all my scans but this was a good day.  
Im still not out of the water and expect another ct this spring, but it was nice to get some positive news.
i want to thank all three of you for taking time to inform and encourage me.  I will keep giving updates and definitely plan on checking in often to keep up with you and others.
 

That's great news, buzzy! Thank you for the update. I'm happy that the pulmonologist was able to give you good news and that you can get back to running. Keep us posted on your next CT!
Lauren
--
Digital Community Manager
LUNGevity Foundation

Update:
I saw a pulmonologist yesterday and really like the guy.  He took time to go over all my CT scans and x-rays, showing me the nodules and telling me exactly what he was seeing and thinking.
First, he thinks the two nodules are totally unrelated to each other.  I said I was concerned about them being bilateral and he said that his gut told him that they were not related but we would keep and eye on them.
The original, smaller nodule at the base of my left lung that measured 6mm in July has remained stable in his mind.  He showed me the comparison of it in Sept. and Dec. and said in his mind it hasn't grown at all and might be beginning to show signs of calcifying.
When I asked about the 6mm vs. 7mm he gave me the same answer you all have given me on here.  He talked about the slices and how intricate a 1mm difference is.  He said he thinks it was between 6 & 7 mm in July and still was between 6 & 7 mm in December.
The bigger, 13.5 mm nodule at the base of my right lung was a different case.  He said the way it developed and the way it looked gave every indication of it being an infection/inflammation.  He even felt it could have been an early stage of pneumonia that the medication stunted before it could really blow up.  Anyway, he said he really felt like it did not look like either lung cancer or metastases. 
He did say that the chest x-ray that was clean in early January didn't really give him any useful information.  The nodule of the left is too small to show up on x-ray and the one on the right is basically hidden by the diaphragm.
He is going to have me get another CT in April more for the bigger one on the right than the one on the left which he feels looks stable.  If the one on the right hasn't grown or has gotten smaller, he said we will follow up in another year or so.
He told me to get back to running, and not dwell on it.  He said if he really believed anything looked suspicious he would move much more quickly.
Anyway, I wanted to update you all.  Hopefully I'll get good news in a few months.
I hope you are all doing well and thank you once again for being so kind and caring to me through this experience.
I really appreciate you all.
 
 

Tom, Mary and Bruce,
I wanted to share what I felt was some positive news with you that I got today.
Ive been wheezing the past few days so I went to my GP to see what he thought.  Before he examined me he wanted to talk a little about my nodule concerns.  He showed me a report from a ct I had in late September when I had a second kidney stone ER visit.  Since it didn't mention the 6mm nodule found in my left lung in July, he requested that the radiologist that read my December ct checkup to go back and reread the sept ct as a favor.  The radiologist found the nodule and measured it at 7mm, so between Sept. 27 and Dec. 22 there was no change which is a good sign.
After he listened to my lungs he suggested I get a chest Xray to check on the bigger 13.5mm nodule as well as get a look at what might be causing my wheezing.  He called me back a couple hours later and said he had some good news.  The radiologist read the chest Xray as completely clean with no sign of pneumonia or nodules.
Now, he was quick to point out that the Xray is not nearly as sensitive as a ct and that both nodules are likely still their but the fact that it found nothing meant that the 13.5mm nodule that was new in December had most likely not grown and very likely had shrunk some. He said a 13.5mm nodule would most likely show up.
So my good news was that the left nodule is likely stable at the moment and the bigger nodule has shrunk or might even be gone if it was an infection.
Im still going to a pulmonologist on Jan 23 and he will look over all my scans but this was a good day.  
Im still not out of the water and expect another ct this spring, but it was nice to get some positive news.
i want to thank all three of you for taking time to inform and encourage me.  I will keep giving updates and definitely plan on checking in often to keep up with you and others.
 

We've all experienced that sucker punch to the gut when we, or a loved one, are diagnosed.  But several physicians have told me and others on this forum that a positive attitude is so important in this fight.  There are so many wonderful survivors on this forum that gave me, and continue to give me, hope.  
I read this today and think it applies to all of us on this forum: Don't die before you are dead. So, I move on with life and have decided not to die before I'm dead.  Cancer be damned - I'm going to Hawaii in 4 months.

Hi there,

I am wondering if there was a misunderstanding because I can't imagine anyone looking at a CT scan and claiming a measurement of 1.1mm. 1.1cm is the same as 11mm so THAT would make perfect sense. Just as Buzzy heard that a 1mm difference is virtually nothing, looking deep inside someone using "slices" of a picture that can be taken every 2/3 or 3/5 of some measurement apart, it's virtually impossible to be that precise. Keep in mind I am just a patient too. Whatever those numbers are, you also have to take into consideration where exactly on your person the machine starts shooting. That could easily allow for a small difference of a mm or 2.
10 mm = 1 cm. 2.54 something cm = 1 inch. That means that there are about 25 and a half mms in 1 inch. Now do you see how easy it is for John to measure 6mm on his machine and Jake to get 7mm on his machine a month or 3 later? Add to that the fact that the test measurements can begin a half a mm or so apart from each other on your person EVEN if done by the same man on the same machine.

Now that the size of a mm & a cm are clear, I am very confused by the rest of your numbers changing Saje. I am more confused by the in or between the lobes thing. I have spoken to dozens of people and never heard that one before. I find it confusing that the doctor who sent you for the biopsy wouldn't have told you that it looks like your lesion is between the lobes & that it might be inaccessible as such. Mine was at the tippy top of the lung so I guess it couldn't get further from a lobe delineation point than that!

If he says that being near the fissures shouldn't have stopped your biopsy, then you need to have him find you someone who thinks like he does!

Perhaps no matter what all of these numbers may or may not be, you need to have a serious talk with the first doctor and have him recommend you to a pulmonary oncologist or perhaps a cancer center (always my preference) so you can make sure WTH is what!!

I really wish I could have been of some help!! I had a terribly long day and am afraid that even if I could have helped my babbling would have left you confused anyway.

Please let us know what comes of all of this!! I will cross my fingers that things are shrinking because that's what benign lesions do!!

Take care,
Mary



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Thank you Bruce. I hope you continue to have good health.
I'm petrified. I know I shouldn't go down the google rabbit hole but I do and when I do, I read nothing positive about having one nodule in each lung. It seems bilateral almost always means malignant or mastastic.
I'm trying to stay positive but am bracing myself for bad news. I only hope that if it is malignant it is caught at an early enough stage to give me a chance to beat it.
I really love you guys. I need honesty and hope. I feel I get that here.