My best friend & mother is currently waiting to receive biopsy test results & be diagnosed. Extremely worried & scared.

[Joseph]

Hello all, 

My mother was having & experiencing weight loss, chest pains, shortness of breathing & difficulty breathing. She scheduled an appointment with her primary care doctor.

Her primary care doctor ordered a chest X-ray and with the chest x-ray test results that came back they had recently discovered that she has a small micro 2.5 - 3mm size lung nodule located on the top upper left lung, which is also pressing by the trachea (wind pipe) causing some of her air flow to be blocked. 

She just underwent a biopsy to determine if the lung nodule is in fact cancerous/malignant. The doctors told my Father that from what they saw from the biopsy that their medical opinion is they believe it will most likely come back as malignant/cancer. We have to wait & will receive the test results/diagnoses from the biopsy on Monday. 

I am very worried and more scared than I’ve ever been in my whole life. My mother is my best friend & the world to me. 

I am looking for support and want to make sure that my mom is going to be okay. 

Best regards,

Joseph 

 

 

[LexieCat]

Hi, Joseph, and welcome.  Sorry to hear of your mom's issues.  It's difficult for me to imagine that a nodule that size could be interfering with her breathing--it seems like something more must be going on. 

You'll know more after the biopsy, but it seems like she should also be getting a CT scan and/or a PET-CT scan.  Those are much better for imaging nodules and a PET-CT can help determine whether (if it does turn out to be cancer) there has been any spread, which will determine what kind of treatment is appropriate.  Waiting for tests and results is one of the most frustrating things about dealing with cancer.

Glad you found us--this is a great place for information and support.

[Joseph]

Hi,

Thank you so much for replying back to me.

I’m just having such a hard time coping & mentally dealing with this.

But I should of clarified in more detail that this small 2.5 - 3mm lung nodule is causing her to have not a lot but mild & minor trachea air flow breathing problems

She did the pre-op breathing test before they performed the biopsy and they said her air flow was still good and being interfered/blocked a little bit. 

I also wanted to ask about her small 2.5 - 3mm lung nodule located on the upper left of the lung and the fact that it is very small in size is a positive good sign right?

- Joseph

[ColleenRae]

Sorry to hear that you and your family are going through this, Joseph.  I read your post and it struck a cord with me as I was diagnosed with a lung nodule that they are saying is cancer (but no biopsy to confirm yet) and I have a 20 y.o. son who happens to be my best friend as well... we mean the world to one another as well! 🙂

I think it's a positive thing that 1) they are able to do a biopsy as that will give you answers and direct the course of treatment and 2) if this is cancer and the tumors are small, hopefully that is a good thing and that they are catching this early. 

I can relate to your feelings of having a hard time coping & mentally dealing with this.  I can't offer any advice as I'm not doing well in dealing with those emotions either.  My son, however,  has been a real source of strength.  He tends to be the one to think positively about this - no matter what the outcome is going to be. I'm not sure how he does it, but it does help me!  The thing that is helping me is to have someone to talk to about this - whether here online, with providers, friends, my son... AND... I'm one of those people who deals with things better when I understand / educate myself about the issue.  Sometimes the info I research (especially statistics) get me down, but I want to know what I'm facing.  I don't cry as much as I did anymore, but I remain scared.  I'm scheduled for a surgical biopsy (lobectomy) on October 1st and all I keep thinking is that will be the day my world will probably change forever.  My son was very angry with me at first as I used to be a smoker. He has gotten over that anger and forgiven me for my long ago habit, thank goodness.  He also went through a stage where he did not want to hear about this , what the Doctors said, etc.  I felt hurt and needed his support - and I told him how I felt. I "made" him accompany me to a 3rd surgical consult in another city recently - and he has been amazing since then.  I think that being a part of this - having a chance to speak with the surgeon, social worker; to see the hospital, etc., made a huge difference for him. He is my rock now!  Depending on what your own personality is, you may find the more involved you get in this that your feelings and emotions might be more in your control (not necessarily easier) and you won't feel so lost in your emotions or ability to cope.  Hope that makes sense! I do know how painful this all is. I still feel like I'm having the worse nightmare ever and life does not seem real like it did before.

As LexieCat has said, you've come to the right place. There are some very caring, intelligent, experienced and knowledgeable people on this site who will do all they can to support you. My thoughts are with you and your mom / family...

[Steff]

Joseph,

My mom is my best friend too, I understand your fear.  My mom had a tumor on her trachea too. It was cancerous and was large enough to cut off 70-80% of her breath. She had a stent placed in her trachea to help and it was there for a few months until the tumor shrunk enough to remove the stent. My mom's tumor is inoperable due to its location, but some can be removed. 

Joseph, there is hope. People do survive cancer. Treatment options have greatly increased over the past few years and people are living full lives in spite a lung cancer diagnosis.  The road you are on will be stressful and scary, but it will get better. We are here to answer your questions and provide support. Feel free to reach out when you need it.

Take care, 

Steff

[CIndy0121]

I hope they were able to get enough tissue from a <3mm nodule to confirm and, if necessary, test for mutations. I have never heard of a biopsy of a nodule that small. What procedure did they use? If near trachea, maybe an endo- or broncho-scopy? Correct me if I’m wrong, LexieCat, but I think a nodule that small would be below the resolution of PET. The biopsy results will probably determine the next steps. 

All of us here can definitely relate to the shock and overwhelming feeling of receive this initial report. All I can say (in hindsight, of course) is try not to anticipate what might be and try not to look anything up yet. You don’t have enough information yet to locate reliable information, just the kind that will cause additional needless anxiety. Take it one day at a time. Let us know what you learn about the biopsy. 

Cindy

[LexieCat]

I don't know about PET scans alone, but CT scans (which are combined with PET for lung cancer imaging) can detect 1-2 mm nodules.  

[Joseph]

Hello all, 

I wanted to give you guys the most recent & current status update on my Mom.

My mom just received a call from her doctor saying that she has small cell lung cancer.

The doctor said it has only spread to the left side Lymph node area but not to the right lymph node.

The doctor thinks it hasn’t spread anywhere else. The cancer has not been staged as of yet and Monday they will be scheduling an MRI and PET scan. 

This has been the most difficult & hardest time of my life and I hope that my mom is going to be okay.

Thank you for the support! I’m looking forward to hearing back from everyone.

- Joseph 

 

[LexieCat]

OK, good that you're making progress on nailing this down.  Small cell is more aggressive than non-small cell, but if it's confined to a local area, that is encouraging.  She may have a tough course of treatment ahead, though, so it's good she has you to rely on.

[Joseph]

Hey hope you are well,

I just recently found out some more update news.

In which it has only spread to one single lymph node on the left side closest to the lung nodule area not the whole entire string of lymph nodes on the left. 

In which I am really hoping that is very good news for her that it has only spread to one single lymphnode on the left side?

- Joseph 

[LexieCat]

I would think it is a positive sign--there are really only two stages of small-call lung cancer, and it sounds like hers might be limited, which allows for additional treatment options.

What did they say (if anything) about the weight loss, chest pain, and breathing difficulties?  I'm not trying to be negative, but I'm not sure how a very small nodule and a single lymph node could cause major symptoms.  Maybe she has some other lung issues as well?  A lot of people get COPD or have other problems unrelated to the cancer.  

It's just really hard to say until all the tests are done.  Certainly you can be hopeful, but there's still a lot of investigation needed.

[Joseph]

5 minutes ago, LexieCat said:

I would think it is a positive sign--there are really only two stages of small-call lung cancer, and it sounds like hers might be limited, which allows for additional treatment options.

What did they say (if anything) about the weight loss, chest pain, and breathing difficulties?  I'm not trying to be negative, but I'm not sure how a very small nodule and a single lymph node could cause major symptoms.  Maybe she has some other lung issues as well?  A lot of people get COPD or have other problems unrelated to the cancer.  

It's just really hard to say until all the tests are done.  Certainly you can be hopeful, but there's still a lot of investigation needed.

In regards to the shortness of breath & difficulty breathing type symptoms she’s having I know they are very minor & mild type of symptoms.

But the reason from what I’ve been told is she has been having these mild symptoms is because the location where they found the small lung nodule is located on the top upper left lobe of the lung and I’ve been told it is inside of the windpipe area causing her to sometimes have these mild shortness or breath breathing problems.

Also I believe the biopsy pre-op breathing test showed that there is a minor 15-20% interfence & blocking some of her airway a little bit because of the lung nodule.

The fear of uncertainty and the fear of the unknown of this waiting is really taking such a toll on me mentally. Can’t really sleep or eat much right now. 

-Joseph 

 

[Joseph]

And also I forgot to mention yes they also found & discovered a small case of COPD too which I’m thinking is definitely causing this shortness of breath type breathing symptoms as well. 

[Joseph]

Okay correction my Dad & also my Mom were both medically diagnosed with COPD a while back. 

[LexieCat]

Well, I think we've about exhausted my ability to make guesses.  I'm not a medical professional, just a person who's learned a bit about lung cancer in the 15 months since my diagnosis.  I think there's reason to be hopeful, based on what the doctors have said.  The one thing to be aware of, though, is that further testing can change the outlook--sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.  The thing to keep in mind is that only a few years ago there was very little that could be done for lung cancer.  Today there are treatments that were unimaginable a short time ago.  So there's definitely hope.  What I've found most helpful, personally, is to keep sort of a flexible mindset--I've been very, very lucky, myself, so far.  Yet I know that this is a persistent and tricky disease and my good luck could change in the future.  If that happens down the line, though, there may be even better treatments available.  New discoveries are happening all the time.

I hope you get some more definite (good) news soon.