After a CT Scan, the doctors found a mass that is about 5cm in the upper lobe of my mom's left lung. They mentioned that the cancer may have also spread to the shoulder joint (my mom has been experiencing some shoulder pain over the last few weeks so I guess this explains it). Doing some research, it seems this is what is known as a pancoast tumor in the lungs. It seems to be pretty rare, but was wondering if anyone has dealt with this before? There's a lot of outdated statistics online and I don't really see too many stories of how people handled treatment options (or perhaps it's similar to other non-small cell lung cancers). Would appreciate it if anyone has any information or tips to share.
Also - if the tumor has spread to the shoulder, does that mean it's metastatic cancer? Or that the tumor has just gotten so large that it's putting pressure on the nerves/bones in that area? Mom is doing a biopsy along with other imaging work this week (stupid holidays really delayed us by a few days!).
This totally caught us off-guard! My mom is 64, exercises regularly, eats very well, never smoked...really blown away by this.
I also just want to say thank you to everybody who is willing to share their stories. I've learned so much about treatments offered and love the hope and optimism that everyone carries. Thank you all!
Any Pancoast survivors/stories?
in LC SURVIVORS
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