Radiation Pneumonitis

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  • shoppygirl
    shoppygirl Member Posts: 694
    edited August 2014

    peace

    The nodule was found during my first ever ct scan right after dx. Because I had never had a ct before there was no way to know if I had it all along as I have had bronchitis in the past or if it was new. They checked it again 6 months later after chemo and it was completely unchanged. They said as it had not changed after all the treatment it was probably benign. I do have it followed every year to check it. I do know that this is the lung nodule protocol even if you have never had cancer. 

    It still suck to have to worry though!! I also hate ct scans!!  

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited August 2014

    peace, i had shortness of breath, that started about 5-10 minutes after I started walking. onc scanned me and told me it was anxiety. i could have murdered her. went to a lung doc who siad it sounded exactly like asthma.  next time they scanned they could see the scarring. the initial inflammation and scarring must have been too slight to show on the scans, but i could sure feel it. It has mostly passed. the main episode was about 6-8 months after. i finished rads.

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  • peacestrength
    peacestrength Member Posts: 690
    edited April 2015

    Shoppy, thanks for your support :)  I do worry...this is the only place that gets the deep darkness that bc causes.

    Momine, I appreciate you sharing.  I have heard about radiation induced asthma.  Did you have a cough with it?  Did you have a followup scan to check your scarring?  What is ironic is that I developed an annoying dry cough 4 days after my chest CT scan and checkup.  I still have it and wonder if I was coming down with an infection and this is the new area showing on the scan..??  Or, is the cough related to radiation damage..??  I see my RO this week and will be asking her about this.

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  • sbelizabeth
    sbelizabeth Member Posts: 2,889
    edited August 2014

    Peace, I developed a dry, annoying cough about 4 weeks into my rads.  I asked my RO if it was related to the rads and he said, "probably."  It went away when I was finished with rads, though.

    The darkness can be painful and overwhelming, I know.  Sorry you're going through this.

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  • peacestrength
    peacestrength Member Posts: 690
    edited April 2015

    Thanks Sbelizabeth.   

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  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 7,859
    edited August 2014

    Peace, I had the CT when I reported the breathing problems. Like I said, it was clean. A year later, I had another CT, for regular control, not specifically to check on the breathing thing, and that was when they could see the scarring.

    The asthma-like symptoms have mostly gone away. When I do get it, it is much, much milder than the original bout. I had a bit of dry coughing as well, but that has cleared up too. I basically walked and exercised my way out of it. Of course it might have gone away on its own, but my thinking was that if I made my lungs work harder, that would help outweigh the damage.

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