mama4zachary Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Hi, My name is Nancy and I live in WV. I just lost my daughter to an accidental drug overdose 2 years ago. She had a 4 month old son and I am attempting to raise him. I have had alot of health problems mentally with depression and grief. But overall I can not complain. I am 49 going to be 50 in couple of weeks. I was having some test done trying to see what was going on with back pain. After several test, the Dr. called my husband and asked him to come to his office with me the next morning. I am a smoker and have been for over 30 years. The Dr. told me that my cat scan showed a spot on my lung about the size of his thumb nail and it was on the very top of my right lung. A lymph node was also enlarged. So then I went for a bronchscopy on Wednesday which came back normal but now they say they have to do a needle biopsy because the pulmonary Dr. feels it was a false negative. How can I know what is going on. Without anything except the cat scan the pulmonary Dr. said it was cancer. My regular Dr. said he would have to see pathology report to say for sure. If anyone can shed some light for me i would really appreciate it. I have a 2 1/2 year old grandson to raise and I am scared too death. Thanks so much for listening to me. Please respond if anyone has any answers. Thanks, Nancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Nancy, You COULD have lung cancer. I do not understand how with just one CT scan a doctor can tell you that is definitely the case. There is nothing to compare a growth rate to, unless he has another recent CT he's looking at, as well. You COULD have a myriad of other icky things. There are infections you can "grow" in your lung. I think you should go with the biopsy and see exactly what you are dealing with. The biopsy can tell what type of cancer and what kind. Do not panic, get the whole story. If your doctor suggests (and describes) a CT-guided fine needle biopsy, it sounds much worse than it actually is. Oh, I wouldn't choose it over a week in some tropical sand with cabana boys bring blended drinks with umbrellas, but there are worse things. I am sorry for the loss of your daughter but so glad her little boy had someone there to "step up to the plate" for him. Welcome to our family, sure hope it's all a false alarm for you, though. If not, c'mon back, we'll talk ya through it! Take care, Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justakid Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 I agree with Becky, get the biopsy. Easier said then done, but try to stay calm. My thought process was a little different, when the tumor was found I had no additional testing done, I had surgery. Of course once I was opened up and the wedge was tested, it was cancer. Guess I kinda skipped one of the steps. So glad you have your grandson, I know my children are what has gotten me though this. Good luck and let us know what happens!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Lamb Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Nancy, I agree with Snowflake as well.I feel it better to have a biopsy & then know for sure what is it you need to fight.Hopefully you might not have anything bad wrong. I think it was very good of you to step up & take care of your granchild.A lot of people would not do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stand4hope Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Nancy, You won't rest until you know, so the biopsy is probably a good idea. I am extremely sorry for the loss of your daughter, and I am sure that even if this is lung cancer, it sounds like they have found it while it is very small, so you will be around for a very long time to take care of your grandson. Take the time to cruise around our site where you will read so many stories of survivors and a ton of hope. I know it's easier said than done, but take deep breaths and try not to worry, and definitely don't predict the future. No matter how the biopsy comes back, you are here today, will be tomorrow, the next day, the next, the next, the next . . . . . . . . May you, your grandson and all your family enjoy the holidays with peace and joy! God bless you, Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shineladysue Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Welcome Nancy, I agree with everyone else that you should have the biopsy. There's one thing harder than dealing with your diagnosis, in my opinion, and that is not knowing. You won't know what you are faced with until you take the step to find out. Know that all of us here understand how you feel. My thoughts and prayers are with you in hopes of good news. Let us know how everything turns out. If needed, there is a lot of information and tons of wonderful people with open arms and hearts here to help you. God Bless, sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindi o'h Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Hi Nancy.. I had a needle biopsy. I think they gave me some kind of sedative so I hardly even remember it ....piece of cake. If it turns out to be cancer, it would be very small and caught early. There are other things that can show up looking like cancer too. So, either way it is best to find out what is going on and get some treatment for whatever "it" is, if treatment is needed. I have alot of courage on this particular day...I am sending some of mine to you...(I might need to borrow it back one day though) Love, Cindi o'h together WE heal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken f. Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 hi, sorry you have to be concerned with all this but, as they say, here you are! and my friends always say whereever it is that you are, be there! as to how to know, my experience is that knowing can be difficult and with illness of any kind there is a certain amount of "not knowing precisely" that we have to find a way get along with. there is much to find out and information tends to point in a direction. you need information at this point and then you can make decisions based on what you find. if i might suggest, i try to take someone with me to medical appointments where there is likely to be discussion of findings or possible courses. sometimes i get so caught up in thinking about this or that that i can't focus entirely on the information being provided. a competent and intelligent sidekick, especially one who can jot down a note or two, can really help to get my questions posed and give perspective to what i hear as an answer. lastly, we all get dealt cards. sometimes we get a chance to draw additional cards. but invariably, we play with the cards we end up with. best of luck. ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Nancy, It could be inflammation, or infection. Until we know, it could be anything. I am so very sorry about your daugther. You have my prayers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nushka Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Nancy, Like everyone has said it could be lots of things that are not cancer. To be sure, I would have the biopsy and get treatment started early if you need it. As for your daughter, I am very sorry for your loss. Your grandchild is lucky to have you. There are many ppl on this board that have survived quite a while with terrible dx. There is no reason to think that even if this is cancer that you can't live a long time. Sending you my prayers, Nina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richinsdakota Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Welcome to the best support group around.....all I can add is that brochoscopy is inexact and frequently inconclusive, as mine was. Only way to get the correct diagnosis is to biopsy it, so I agree its the only way to know for sure. Yea, needle biopsy aint all that bad, I had no sedative even....but Im sure you can request it, if u want to . Good luck, hope you find its less than cancer, but at least you will know for sure....Rich B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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