Nodules???

[Alice]

Hi, I have been away from the board for a while and I just have a question. My onc doesnt want tests done until there are symptoms and I understand and agree mostly with this. One of the women in the group I go to didn't have any symptoms but had a scan done and now will be on chemo forever. i also had a scan done but for another area of the body ,and another reason, that just happened to catch a portion of the lungs and it showed that there were multiple nodules in both lung fields. I know there are other things that may show up but in reading some posts I see some people reffering to micro-mets. How big are these and are they confirmed as cancer or could they be something else? My nodules are stated to be .5 mm in size and can not be determened as carcinoma. They have not changed in a 3 month period so I am optimistic but at the same time if it was an infection or something else it should have been gone by now.

[suzan w]

Hi Alice...how old are you? Not to be nosy but! A friend who is trying to figure out a chronic cough had a chest CT -lungs- and it showed 'nodules' the radiologist said that just about everyone over the age of 50 has nodules of some sort...and she is supposed to repeat the scan every 3 months for a year...if no changes then she should rest easy (?whatever that is!). She has had one scan since and nothing had changed. She has not had cancer, as we have, but worries nonetheless. I hope this is the case for you! We have so much to worry about!

[Grace]

I agree with Alice. In 2000, six years before my cancer appared they found nodules in my right lung (.5mm). Been tracking them now for six years and they're still the same size. My radiologist said that at least 40% of people have nodules on lung.

[Grace]

Sorry Susan--I agree with you, try not to worry, Alice.

[Jean]

I had a ct scan done after my lumpectomy just to satisfy myself that nothing
else was going on. A small 5MM nodule was found on my lung and we have been tracking and watching it ever since. It will be 2 yrs. this April that my Dr. is
tracking it with no change in size and it just sits there. Hope this helps you to feel a bit better, once we are dx. with bc. we then have scans for the obvious reasons and then find these other little issues and now worry ourselves about them. I believe that is why the Dr.'s are not keen on scans becasue it opens the flood gates. But I still think the scans are the way to go. If there is anything it is caught early by tracking. Hopefully nothing changes and it all stays static.

Good Luck,
Jean

[Alice]

Than you all for your responses. I am 48 and I had a pet scan when first diagnosed which showed no nodules. I am starting to feel better about everything. I think from time to time I just need to adjust my thinking and reassess how I have been given the chance to live each day and find the beauty in life.

[Linda]

Alice:
I also had one "nodule" show up and, after figuring out it was benign, was told that any pnemonia, lung infection, can cause nodules. Also, breast radiation can cause scarring that can also appear on scans.