The dreaded rescan of the lung nodule!!

shoppygirl

Hopeful

They have been scanning this lung nodule for 2 1/2 years with no change. It has been exactly the same since they found it upon my diagnosis. I think I may have to stop being the good , obedient patient and but my foot down! My NP is a little over the top!

Hugs!!

Pessa

Why would you follow the recommendation of a nurse practitioner over that of a physician

shoppygirl

The nurse is a cancer nurse practitioner that works at the cancer centre. I was released from my oncologist and sent to her. She follows up on everything and does my check up. I was willing to go with the two year watch and wait protocol but now it has been 2.5 years.

Yoshi_Falls

Hi. Had scan yesterday. Got to wait till next week for results. Apparently onc glanced at scan but wants to wait for radiologist report. More waiting!

shoppygirl

Yoshi

So sorry you have to go through the weekend to get the results !! Like we all haven't gone through enough and they make us wait for results! Hugs.

shoppygirl

Muska

Any update on your scan?

muska

I had my chest CT yesterday, will know what's in the report when I see my oncologist next week.

Hopeful82014

Muska & Yoshi - I'm so sorry you have to wait so long for the results. Your experience makes me appreciate my surgeon even more.

There is SO much waiting in this business of having cancer. Even when you're pretty confident the results will be benign, it's wearing.

Yoshi_Falls

Still waiting on my results of scan. But just wanted to share that a woman in my local BC support group had lung noodles at diagnoses that they have been following. She is now 3 years out and there has been no change in them and them and they are considered benign.

Just wanted to share her experience since it made me feel hopeful.

Thanks to you all for your support and caring. I will report back when I know my results

shoppygirl

Yoshi.

It is so reassuring to meet people that have lung nodules. I had never heard of them before they found one on me.

I can remember I was waiting to see my oncologist 2.5 years ago and I was talking to another BC patient and she told me that she had one too! At that time I was just diagnosed and I was frantic about the "incidental finding" and it was so comforting to meet a random person that had a lung nodule too.

I met with my cancer nurse practitioner yesterday and she advised that since it had been 2.5 years since they found the nodule with no change I no longer needed to have any more ct scans unless I presented symptoms of something worrisome . They are still watching my thyroid nodule but that is also unchanged after 2 years. What a relief.

Good luck with the test results and let us know.

Hugs.

muska

Ladies, I am happy to report that my CT scan showed no change in lung nodules that were first seen in July 2013. However, I am not completely off the hook. I was told today they would continue monitoring them not because they think they might be breast cancer mets, but because the nodules of the kind I have - ground glass nodules - may be precursor of lung cancer. So I will have another chest CT in a year.

Hopeful82014

I'm glad that there's no change but the idea of a precursor to lung cancer is not too reassuring. They didn't think they were the result of your radiation treatment? (Perhaps they were in the opposite lung?)

Here's hoping they are nothing and that you can forget about them - for the most part - for another year.

muska

I am not very concerned about this. These multiple tiny nodules were in both lungs when I had my very first chest CT before starting chemo over two years ago and they haven't changed in size since. Then I had new nodules show up on the scan done five months post-rads but these new nodules were on the radiated side only and in the section of the lung that was in the radiation field. Nobody was concerned about these 'intermediate' nodules that resolved themselves as expected and are not seen anymore.

I am pretty happy with today's results.

Hugs to all.

Hopeful82014

I'm glad to hear that, Muska.

Yoshi_Falls

Great news Muska. Yay. I am still waiting for my results! Thought I might have got them today when I had chemo, but didn't get to see onc only nurse. I'm running with no news is good news at this stage. Staying Hopeful for now. I'll report when I finally hear something.

shoppygirl

Good luck Yoshi!!

Yoshi_Falls

Still don't have my CT results. I am being mentally tortured! I have an appointment 5th Nov with Onc, so will find out then! Three weeks wait for CT then another 3 weeks wait for results appointment. That is enough stress to give me more breast cancer!!

bevin

Yoshi Falls, Can you call the radiology office and obtain a copy of your report ? I do that.

Yoshi_Falls

No, Here in New Zealand, only the dr who requested the scan can get and give out the results. I originally started my cancer journey in the private sector (ie. pay privately or insurance pay), but all chemo/radiology is done publicly. Since my oncologist booked my scan through the public system (Government pays) everything takes heaps longer. I know my GP has the results but she isn't allowed to discuss them with me until the Onc has. The results file has a warning on it which says "Don't discuss this document with patient". It doesn't mean anything bad, it is just a protocol they have to follow.

I should have requested to have scan done in the private sector. Would have been done quicker and I could have requested the results went through to my private Breast Surgeon to discuss with me.

My oncologist has known that I have wanted to see her for the last 3 weeks, but she has not contacted me. Apparently she is the only one that can discuss the results with me. Nurses here are not allowed to give out results. Even my Onc's junior Doctors weren't allowed last time I asked.

Anyway only got to wait till this Thursday now.

I'll update then. Thanks

Beatmon

Wow, that is terrible to have to wait so long for results. Glad u are almost there

Rowan47

Hi Yoshi Falls, I live in ChCh, NZ and have had 2 CT scans done privately through Breast Care. Both times the nurse rang and gave me results, so no waiting for onc to deliver information. Sorry you're having to wait!!!

Yoshi_Falls

Lesson learnt. Next time I will ask to go private for scans. Much quicker to get appointment and results.

Hi Rowan. Great to see you are 4 years out! Wow, were you living in ChCh in 2011. If so you are amazing for coping through BC and Earthquakes! Congratulations. Looks like your dx date is only a week before the big one hit!

Its weird, my BS's nurse would never give me results, but she did call one day with a revision to my histology, Maybe they have to have permission from the Surgeon or specialist.

I asked my GP the reason why she has the results and can't share. She said its because in the past patients have had tests/scans etc. and then gone to doctors or A&E for something else only to have their results mentioned to them in sometimes insensitive ways, before the patient had been officially told of their diagnosis. She told me she is allowed to read my results but hadn't so that she wouldn't compromise herself in anyway.

Two days to go.

Thanks, Beatmon for your support.

shoppygirl

Yoshi

How horrible and so unfair to you!!!

Hugs!

Rowan47

Hi Yoshi, yes, we were indeed living in ChCh at time of Feb. quake...in fact, I was in St.George's hospital about to go in for first lumpectomy!!! I found out 4 days before that I has BC, then went in on Feb. 22nd early morning to have hook wire inserted then at time of quake was with hubby on 2nd floor of hospital about to change into theatre gown....OMG it was terrifying!!! Had to flee hospital and no-one available to take wire out so had to leave it in overnight and go to GP next day and have it pulled.....not fun! We also lost a close friend in CTV building, and our house, too. Now live 20 km out of ChCh in North Canterbury so feel much safer now, lol. Hope you're not stressing too much over results. Thinking of you x

Yoshi_Falls

Hi, good news! Finally got my results of first follow up ct from dx. Originally found 2 nodules. 2mm and 4.7mm. No change in 5 months and 3.5 months of chemo. No shrinkage or growth. This indicates just old scarring at this stage. yay! Thanks everyone for your support through this -

sorry I previously posted my results in the wrong thread by accident.

Rowan - amazing to have coped with all that. I hope life has settled down for you and your family. I remember watching the tv coverage of that day and crying.

Hopeful82014

Yoshi Falls, so glad to read your news. Thanks for the quick update. Rowan, I cannot imagine going through all that. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.

shoppygirl

Rowan, how horrible for you! I am so sorry for you loss

Yoshi, amazing news! No change is awesome!

Winters74

Hello. I am just wanting to bump this post as I am about 6 months out from radiation and 9 months out from chemo. I just a ct scan that found a new 6mm nodule in my upper right lung. Same as my cancer side so freaking out

shoppygirl

Winters

First of all, congratulations on completing your treatment! Finding a lung nodule can be very scary but as I’m sure you have read , they are very common. 6mm it’s very small and it can even be something that the radiation has caused . Hasyour doctor said anything to you about it? I can only assume that they will rescan you again in 6 to 12 months to see if there’s any change. That seems to be the normal protocol. Good luck and here’s hoping for a benign results.

Veeder14

Hi Winters,

These are scary. I had a lung nodule approx 4-5mm show up on PET/Ct scan for 9 months (I wanted it tested immediately) then finally my melanoma surgeon ordered a high resolution CT as the Ct portion of the PET isn't that accurate. The high resolution CT scan showed 4 mm of mucus. Gross I know but it wasn't anything. Still don't know how the mucus goes away. Did you have a high resolution CT scan? So hopefully your lung nodule is benign. Let us know what the results are.