pulmonary function test

[cihavi]

Ok I got thru my pet scan and I get a call from docs office and I'm thinking they are going to tell me pet came out neg but instead they want me to have a pulm func test. Why? I asked the assistant and her answer was "cause the doctor said so" LOL not quite in those words but I didn't get an answer. Seems my pulmonary function would be rather unimportant if the pet comes back positive. Can any one enlighten me?

[Fay A.]

You Pulmonary Function is important no matter what. But it is especially important when one is being considered for possible lung surgery. They want to know if you will be able to function if they remove part or all of a lung. Not much point in removing tumor(s) if you can't breathe with the lung you have left. Ditto for radiation treatments. There are other reasons for ordering the PFTs, too, but possible surgery comes to my mind first.

[cihavi]

thanks fay for the response. Yeah I guess it would be nice if One could breathe should the worse come to be. Anyway my appointment to get ALL the results is at 3:00 tomorrow. I am confident that all is going to be ok. I would also like to add that I don't mean to be thoughtless or selfish worrying about all these test. I hope all your test came back ok, I read your post from Oct 21 but no results.

[Fay A.]

I don't think anyone here would think that you have behaved in a thoughtless manner. We have all been through the testing and waiting for information.

I will keep my fingers and toes crossed that what you have is a benign condition. But if it isn't, you've found one of the best resources for information on how to deal with this diagnosis.

(my test results were benign for the biopsies done last month. Whew!)