FF11

Got the PET scan results today - nothing lit up Now the pulmonologist (who I think I do like after all!) says we'll go with CTs every 6 months for two years. She also says it really, really doesn't look like anything to worry about, but of course, we'll follow up to be sure. So...thank you again, everyone, for the input and support. I will probably look in from time to time because now I kinda care how you're all doing (), but I will probably not be hanging around here reading everyone's posts daily, which I've been doing - I think now that I have been given more time to be healthy and live my life, I need to focus on doing that (I hope that makes sense). If I don't post again soon, I wish every one of you a day like my day today - a doctor walking in with good test results.

Another quick update - the PET got postponed till next week because the insurance preapproval didn't come through until later Tuesday (and they only do PETs one day a week). No one seems to feel there's any problem waiting a week or so now that they've seen the CT films, so again, I'm taking that as a good sign and will have the PET next week. I feel so much better just hearing she thinks it may be something benign, but I will follow up and should know more by this time next week.

Just a quick update - I called and the nurse said the pulmonologist has looked at the CT films and there are 3 small nodules. They look to her like they're probably scar tissue (she can't be sure, of course, but that's what she thinks is likely) :) She wants to go ahead with the PET this week, in the hopes that we can be even more confident that this is not cancer, so I will have that done, but right now I finally have reason to be optimistic - as long as there are no unpleasant surprises on the PET. I will check back in after the PET results, but again want to thank everyone here for their responses.

No, no personal call from the doctor - it was one of the nurses. They have my insurance info, so I'm thinking it has to have something to do with them having gotten the CT films. I just keep telling myself even if the doctor saw something worse than the what the radiologist saw, there's no reason to call me when the PET is already scheduled in 2 days!

Thanks again, everyone who's responded. I was out of town from early Thursday till today, but checked my messages at home late Friday and had a message to call the pulmonologist's office. Of course, it was too late to call till Monday. I've been telling myself she can't have found anything worse looking at the CT films - I'm already scheduled for the PET on Tuesday and an appointment with the doctor on Wednesday, so surely she wouldn't need to speak with me before that if there was anything more suspicious to her. (I'm kind of hoping that she got the films and thought it was less urgent than she thought!) I guess I'll just have to wait till tomorrow to find out though...

Thanks, Kasey. I'm starting to calm down a little now over the nodule(s), but stressed over the difficulty I'm having getting doctors to listen/talk to me! And this is just over nodules (so far, anyway). I called back today and told them I wanted to wait till she got the CT films and then schedule the PET scan if she felt it was necessary - the nurse told me the doctor wanted to do a PET scan if she saw any nodule on the films (although if the films didn't arrive for some reason, they wouldn't do the PET till they did arrive) and the only reason we wouldn't do it next week is if she didn't see a nodule. She said then if anything lights up on the PET, they'd do a biopsy. I'm not sure I understand this either, but will wait to see what she thinks of the films. She also seemed concerned about the mildly enlarged lymph nodes on the abdominal CT, although the original doctor felt that wasn't anything too alarming. Seems like the original doctor and radiologist may have been too laid back and now this doctor is going to the other extreme! Aside from the fear, it's very frustrating to call and say I don't want to do the PET until I know what she sees on the CT and be told "We're doing it if she sees a nodule" - starting to feel as if I get no say in anything.

I'm another one who may not need to be here, but I feel better just having read some of the posts here, although still am worried. Up until a few weeks ago, I was (as far as I could tell) perfectly healthy. I'm 43 and a smoker (although smoking much less than I did a few weeks ago). I had a cardiac CT (which was fine) which also found a 4x5 mm nodule on my lung and large liver lesion - no further details. My doctor's office called and told me there was something on my lung and liver and I needed to go back right away for chest and abdominal CTs. The abdominal CT report said the liver lesion "may represent a hemangioma" and mesenteric lymph nodes are mildly enlarged. The chest CT found one 6 mm nodule, one 7 mm "vague nodule", and on 16 x 13 mm "vague small area of infiltrate" - no hilar or mediastinal adenopathy. There is no further detail and the recommendation is follow up in 6 months. Since I was unable to get my doctor to answer any of my questions, I made an appointment with a pulmonologist who wants to see the actual films before she can tell me anything, but also suggested a PET scan. I almost get the impression that she suggested the PET scan because I'm worried, not because she's worried (I asked whether she was okay with waiting the week or so for the films to be mailed instead of me going and getting them and she said she was fine with waiting longer than that, but if I was worried, we should follow up faster). So...now I'm wondering if we're pushing ahead because I'm panicking or because the doctor feels it's urgent. If it really is appropriate to wait 6 months, I'll learn to handle it - I just haven't gotten a doctor to tell me what they're thinking or why that's the best option. (By the way, I do live in an area that sees a lot of histoplasmosis, although neither doctor has actually mentioned that to me - so either that's a good thing or I'm just finding ways to falsely reassure myself.) Sorry for the long post, but as you can probably tell, I've been really worried the last few weeks and it seemed like a lot of you here have been through a lot of this nodule scare stuff.