Jump to content

Don M

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,946

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Don M

    scan results

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Hi all:

    I had an upper left lobectomy a year ago with no adjuvant treatment.

    My ct scan results today established that I have a new nodule in my left lung. Last November it was thought to be a new nodule or scar tissue. Last Friday it was determined that it is a nodule that grew from 9 mm last November to 12 mm at the present. There has been no change in my mediastinal area or other suspicious sites. I am going to have a PET scan to see if it is cancer or not. I had a benign nodule in the bottom of my left lung when I had surgery a year ago. It was removed and found to be benign. Of course, I hope the new one is benign. But if it isn’t, the worse that would probably happen is that I would have the rest of my left lung removed because the cancer would probably be still local. Even if the PET scan is negative, I will have to closely monitor this nodule for the next couple of years. I was hoping that I would just get clear scans as the years went by, but not so. I will just have to get used to living with the uncertainty. Please pray for me.

    MY TOPIC SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONFUSED INSTEAD OF LOSING MY MIN

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Nancy: Once I made up my mind to have my upper left lobe removed, the waiting for the operation was the hardest part. I had a bronchosopy, a lung needle biopsy and a PET scan before the surgery. The first 2 tests were inconclusive. The PET scan lit up the mass and showed me to very likely have cancer. They did not know the extent of it going into surgery. The first thng they did was to biopsy my lymph nodes at the mediastinal area. If they were cancerous, I would have been put back together and put on chemo after healing. My mediastinal area was clear. The next thing they did was to biopsy a suspicious nodule at the bottom of my left lung. If it was cancerous, l would have lost my whole lung. The nodule was benign, so they proceeded to do the upper left lobectomy. After the operation, my lobe was biopsied to determine cancer type and to see if any nodes in the lobe itself had cancer. If the nodes had cancer, I would have gone on chemo. The nodes were clear. It was determined that the cancer was confned to the mass itelf. I was staged IB because of the size.

    I think I could have chosen not to do the PET scan, but then the next step would have been to have an operation to explore the pathology. Eventually, during the course of the operation, they would have removed the entire upper left lobe.

    The pain was well managed. I had an epidural. Be sure to ask for one. I had my operation in Jan 2004. I feel fine now. It took me about 5 months before I was fully recovered. I have lost some lung capacity, but have most of it back. I just can't huff and puff up steep mountainsides like I used to do. Maybe if I lost 30 pounds I would do better.

    Mets,rib vs adrenal glands.

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Hi Nina:

    So far I am still staged IB and have never had any symptoms. But, I think you shoud ask for a chest/abdomen scan or maybe an ultrasound scan if you are worried about your kidneys.

    I have never had a bone scan, but I think that is someting entirely different from a chest ct scan. Others are more infrormed about this than me.

    I hope it turns out to be nothing.

    Out d--n spot

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Rob: Welcome to this site. I feel fine. I was fairly active 3 months after my operation. I felt like my old self again by 5 months. I just feel a little stiffness in my back sometimes. I did physical therapy after the operation and it helped. I think the worst part for me was just waiting to have the operation once I decided to do it. It sounds like your father found out early if he has cancer. I found out early and I was told that I was "lucky" and I guess I was. I hope all goes welll for your father.

    Permanent Hall Pass

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Dr Joe: I am sorry you are being harrassed. I suspect there is more going on ..maybe they got your email address and are not letting up.. I know how distressing that can be. My daughter had to put up with email harassment for 6 months or more. Anyway, you have a good heart.. God bless you.

    Out d--n spot

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Thanks all for your support.

    I had my fluoroscopy today. The chance of it being a shadow was eliminated and the spot is still there. I talked to the radiologist immediately afterwards. He showed me the xray from 3 months ago where he thought there might be something then, although the onco had said nothing about it last time, and then showed me the present state. It shows more clearly in the current image. Then we looked at a ct scan from last May. The spot in the xray and in the May 11 ct scan were of the same size and location. It and the report were done by a different radiologist. The present radiologist was not privy to the details and report of the May 11 scan until he looked at it today. An excerpt: “it (the spot) conceivably represents postoperative scarring or residual from the prior disease, although I cannot exclude a new nodular density.” So, it seems as if the spot has been there since last May, and is still the same size. We are going to do another ct scan to check for change from last May.

    Since my surgery last Jan, I have been having very short visits with my onc. He would tell me the xray or scan was ok and I would leave. Today I got copies of all radiology reports since my surgery. The May report addresses some other new features also. They were never brought up by my onc so I guess he considered the structures not important.

    Monday I am going to call him and ask him to discuss the report from last May and why he did not consider new features significant. I am going to get copies of all my radiology reports from now on and discuss them with my oncologist.

    I guess I don’t feel so worried about it now. It is not like something popped up suddenly in the last 3 months. But the last few days have been a somewhat of a churner for me. I figured I had this disease licked for sure but am not going to be so complacent about it any more.

    Anyway, thanks again for your responses. I read them more than once these past few days.

    Out d--n spot

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    I had my xray today and they found a small spot. It could be caused by overlapping shadows. It only shows on one view. I am going to go in for fleuroscopy this Friday to eliminate overlapping shadsows and to see if the spot is still there. Grrrr.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.

  I accept