Mtngrl
12-04-2012, 06:59 AM
The first CT scan I had showed some small spots on my lungs. They are still there. How much to care about them seems to depend on who's reading the scan. In June an oncologist I consulted for a second opinion said I had experienced progression in my lungs. My onc said, "that's not at all clear."
On my latest scan, for the first time, the person reading it calls them "metastases." I'm so glad I've learned not to freak out about the language of CT scan descriptions! My onc showed me the pictures. The spots are small (too small to biopsy). They haven't changed. There aren't any new ones. And you can't really tell the difference between the ones that he flagged as "mets" and similar structures that were not flagged. My onc also said that when looking at pictures of obvious lung metastases there is no ambiguity.
I went looking on the Internet for pictures of lung metastases, and found an article about "tumorlets" that can mimic metastatic breast cancer. I will not be so bold as to self-diagnose with benign, cancer-mimicking tumorlets, but to me it's further reassurance. I think everyone's got "stuff" going on inside them. (The scans have also told me much more than I care to know about my kidneys, my thyroid, my uterus, etc.) If you have stage IV breast cancer, your scans will be read very defensively and in light of that very important and salient detail. That's my point.
It's hard to just watch and wait, but many times that's the most prudent strategy. In my case I have one bone lesion that looked like a met last May but is now healed (and is right next to a vertebra with an identical "bone island" that no one ever thought might be cancer.) My proven, known liver metastases have healed. My thyroid is being monitored (I've had three biopsies so far, one that rules out cancer and two that are inconclusive.) I'm willing to keep watching and waiting.
On my latest scan, for the first time, the person reading it calls them "metastases." I'm so glad I've learned not to freak out about the language of CT scan descriptions! My onc showed me the pictures. The spots are small (too small to biopsy). They haven't changed. There aren't any new ones. And you can't really tell the difference between the ones that he flagged as "mets" and similar structures that were not flagged. My onc also said that when looking at pictures of obvious lung metastases there is no ambiguity.
I went looking on the Internet for pictures of lung metastases, and found an article about "tumorlets" that can mimic metastatic breast cancer. I will not be so bold as to self-diagnose with benign, cancer-mimicking tumorlets, but to me it's further reassurance. I think everyone's got "stuff" going on inside them. (The scans have also told me much more than I care to know about my kidneys, my thyroid, my uterus, etc.) If you have stage IV breast cancer, your scans will be read very defensively and in light of that very important and salient detail. That's my point.
It's hard to just watch and wait, but many times that's the most prudent strategy. In my case I have one bone lesion that looked like a met last May but is now healed (and is right next to a vertebra with an identical "bone island" that no one ever thought might be cancer.) My proven, known liver metastases have healed. My thyroid is being monitored (I've had three biopsies so far, one that rules out cancer and two that are inconclusive.) I'm willing to keep watching and waiting.