Requesting your input

[vpearson]

Hi everyone. Hoping you’re all feeling strong and happy today.

I hope this is the right place to post this. I came to this forum to see if I could learn anything to help me make a decision. I’ve browsed and searched, but have to ask.

Background: I've had pain directly in my sternum for about 7 months. Most painful right in the center. Not unbearable, but very painful and constant. Doesn't hurt more when it's pressed, in fact almost feels better, and I frequently massage it and press down on the center of the bone to ease the pain. Doesn't hurt more with exercise or deep breathing. No cough, etc. But it hurts, and heart issues have been ruled out.

I worry about cancer because everyone in my family has had it, I grew up in a smoky house, and I smoked heavily for many years.

Chest x-ray looked OK, so Dr. suggested CT scan. Should be a no brainer, right? Just do it for peace of mind. Find out as soon as possible so I can be around for my precious 2 year old for years to come.

But I am agonizing over this because I have been x-rayed to death over the last few years for various things, and am petrified of radiation (I just know I will pay for it at some point, if I’m not already). My mom's painful leukemia was likely from radiation exposure. And CT scans = a large number of x-rays. I’m also scared of the iodine injection, as my mom was allergic to iodine, and they can’t predict ahead of time if you’ll go anaphylactic from iodine. I don’t want to hasten my demise by adding to my radiation baggage.

But CT seems to be the only good way to detect lung cancer. From what I’ve read, MRI isn’t as accurate for lungs, and I can’t find much info on effectiveness of sputum testing.

SO…I’m wondering does my kind of pain ring familiar to anyone with lung cancer (sternum, no cough, etc.)? If this is totally inconsistent with lung cancer, then that’s one against the CT.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience.

Vicki

[ernrol]

Vicki,

I would not be concerned with a CT scan. I was informed by the FAA that I needed a CT/PET scan in February and again in July. I just had one in November. I will also have to have an MRI of the brain along with them. This is to maintain my pilot’s medical certificate. I asked my oncologist and he said that there is no problem from the radiation.

I would get the scan and if it is a spiral scan like a lot of them are today, then there is even less radiation.

Stay positive,

Ernie

[Nick C]

Hello and welcome.

The low dose spiral CT scan I have read is the equivalent of 1-3 times the radiation of an x-ray...

I am not sure if it is 1 or if it is 3...I have done a lot of my reading on this topic at www.ielcap.org. I have been wanting to get more info on this topic of radiation, as it seems like the onluy argument against testing which may make any sense...but to me, it would really be the most effective way of tracking down what is causing the problem.

MRI won't work.

And there is no allergist out there who could test you for the iodine thing? I'm surprised. Have you consulted and allergist?

Best of luck with everything.

[vpearson]

Has anyone seen lung cancer present itself in this way:

- No abnormal cough

- Nothing shows on x-ray

- Pain directly in sternum for about 7 months. Most painful right in the center.

- Not unbearable, but very painful and constant.

- Doesn't hurt more when it's pressed, in fact almost feels better

- Doesn't hurt more with exercise or deep breathing.

I assumed lung cancer would hurt more with breathing, or to the left or right of center. It seems that if this is likely not lung cancer, why do yet another radiation procedure (have had a boatload in just the last few years). Thanks again for the advice.

[ernrol]

Vicki,

Your doctor suggested a CT scan for a reason. If you do not have confidence in his recommendation I would get a second opinion and if you are concerned about cancer then I would get that second opinion from a major cancer center like Sloan Kettering or M. D. Anderson in Houston. If there is any chance that it is cancer, early detection can mean a lot in your survival. You seem like you are looking for support for not getting the scan. I don’t think you will get it from one of us that have been through this. I pray that you do not have cancer, but I can’t encourage you to not get checked.

Stay positive,

Ernie

[tnmynatt]

It's your call. If I was having any pain, I would have one done. You get similar radiation exposure from airline flights. See the following primer on radiation:

http://www.bcm.edu/bodycomplab/Radprime ... inpage.htm

Blessings!

[Don M]

Vicki, welcome to lchelp. If I were you, I would get the sprial ct scan. I never had any symptoms at all when I found out about my cancer. The fact that you smoked and have a family history of cancer is reason enough to get the scan. Whether someone had the symptoms or not that you describe is largely irrelevant and probably not much of an indicator for cancer one way or the other.

Don M

[Snowflake]

Have you been tested for stress/anxiety?

Lung cancer doesn't usually hurt in its early stages and doesn't usually show up on x-rays in its early stages. I had a chest x-ray in February 2002. I'd been having chest pain and my heart was being checked out. Nothing was wrong with my heart, nothing showed in my lungs, it was diagnosed as anxiety due to working in a hostile workplace.

Four months later, I switched jobs and got married, lost the job stress and the medication. Started getting sick in November, along with my husband and son. Coughed up blood after three weeks with a dry cough, had a chest x-ray to rule out TB - ruled in pneumonia. Husband's showed same, son was not given an x-ray, just treated for pneumonia since it is an infectious disease and he presented with the same symptoms.

Husband's follow-up x-ray is clear, mine has a suspicious cloudy area on my right lung (this is nine months after the other x-ray showed nothing). I have no pain, just the lethargy brought on by a case of walking pneumonia...

Follow-up CT of cloudy area shows a "suspicious mass" and a meeting is set with a thoracic surgeon to discuss what it could be. A biopsy is scheduled for January 28. By dinner time, I had a diagnosis...and after my surgery, a new stage.

My cancer never hurt, my STRESS did. I could have ignored my doctor's orders for a CT, but I didn't. Odds were high I didn't have cancer - news was, I did...

Rule it out and move on with your life. Stop being afraid, you're giving the unknown power to control your life - take that power back.

Put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Odds are, it's nothing. Heck, lung cancer has never shown up in my family, even among the smokers (of which, I'm not one). Get it over, get past it, and get on with your life.

[Dazy]

Okay...here's my two cents...

Have the CT. Radiation received in a spiral CT is pretty minimal - equal to approx. 2 yrs. normal background radiation, I believe. You do NOT need contrast for a screening scan. I have been scanned every three months for 2 years, now. I do not have contrast because I am allergic, as well. IF there are abnormal findings on CT, they can be followed up with PET, instead of contrast CT. I have read that in many cases, use of contrast interferes with the ability to detect calcification in a nodule, anyway.

My N.P. encouraged me to have a CT done, even after an x-ray performed 2 weeks prior showed NOTHING! She asked me to "humor" her. I did, and guess what? Yup, it was abnormal. (Details below, in my VERY lengthy profile )

Moral to the story: Get the CT. It's better to know, and really the rads aren't too serious considering what we are exposed to daily, just walking outside...

Wishing you ALL the best, whatever you decide!

Yours in HOPE!

Stacey

[marym]

Hi Vicky,

I can't say I had similar symptoms - but this disease manifests itself in so many ways..mets can form anywhere and cause pain.

I think the radiation is an acceptable amount when weighed against the diagnostic benefit. Certainly tell the doctor that your mother was alergic to iodine, but I would have the test. Besides ruling in or out cance, you need to find the cause of the pain.

Good luck. Let us know how things work out.

Mary

[Danielle30]

Get the sacn!!

From a different perspective....

My mom was DX back in November '06. She has a primary tumor in the right lung, but has spots on the other lung one spot now on her liver, as well as it being in her bloodstream (all per the onc).

With that said, since the summer of 06, she had been saying things that we should not have let her ignore. She doenst feel like she is breathing good, shoulder pain, dizziness, general tiredness, etc. She ignored these signs and as a family, we let her.

In November her pain worsened, her dizziness increased and her right arm started feeling numb, which is when she finally sought treatment and was dx stage iv, inoperable and incurable.

Looking back now i cant help but think, if only we would have made her go sooner, maybe we could have caught it, maybe surgery would have been an option in June, maybe the spreading hadnt happened yet, etc.

You owe it to yourself and your family to find out what it is. The what ifs will drive you crazy. Every day makes a difference. Don't hesitate, don't be scared, just go.

I will keep you in my prayers for good news.

-Danielle

[RandyW]

Ventral Hernia??? Sounds Kinda like what I went through several years ago. Is there any kind of Lump in tha area affected?? Just my 2 cents!! Do you do any heavy lifting of any sort?? Prayers that it is nothing more than that. Hernia Is outpatient by the way. Thats why I hope That is all it is.

[Maryanne]

It could be a lot of things. Go and get the CT done, I would not wait.

Just do it!!

Maryanne

[needhope]

To echo what everyone else has said, please, please, please get a CT scan done if you have the slightest inclination that something is wrong. If it turns out to be nothing, then you will have the peace of mind knowing that things are OK and if (God forbid) the outcome is different then the sooner something is done about it, the better. You don't want to wait around and regret it later. God bless you and I pray that everything turns out fine.

Sincerely,

Rochelle

[Judy-OK]

Vickie ... just get the CT and be done with it. I had no cough and really no sypmtom other than a pain under my right arm which eventually started to spread towards the center of my chest and the center of my back. After initial onset of pain I waited almost 5 months to bring it back up with my PCP. I was at the time undergoing treatment for a ruptured disc. When the cancer was discovered with put the disk on the back burner so to speak. Hopefully after the CT you will receive great news but it would certainly put your mind at ease.

[masspa]

I know it's been said over and over, but I'm another supporter of having the CT scan. We have the technology to find things (cancer, or maybe something else) early which can improve outcomes. My 2 cents is that it's worth finding out the cause of this pain.

Jen

[wyogirl]

Since LC came up in your mind, it's likely going to stay in your mind unless you have the CT. A little rad. exposure is a small price to pay for peace of mind.....or knowledge that might help save your life! Hoping for the best for you!!!!! Please keep us posted!