How do you deal with monitoring a lung nodule and anxiety?

How exactly do they treat your lung nodules? Does the doctor ever venture a cause for the nodules? I've had quite a few lung nodules on the outside of my lung lobes, but doctors do not have an idea what causes them. One said the cause was merely breathing dirty Los Angeles area air. Another pulmonologist said it likely breathing in rubber particles which are shed from car tires as they traverse the freeways. My number of nodules has decreased in number and size (largest was 6 mm in size), so the doctor has said I need no more CT scans and he will not need to see me again. Apparently until they hit 8 mmm in size, then they decide if they want to biopsy the largest nodule(s) or not. The only thing I do at home is to wear a KN95 face mask when I scoop out the cat litter boxes which generate dust as I do that activity. I suppose I should wear one when mowing the lawn, but I have a very small yard and mow the grass infrequently. I may get another lung CT scan in 2 years or so, I doubt if the doctor has a follow up plan like that. I stopped being anxious about the condition, although at first I had anxious thoughts about the possibility of cancer. Since none of the nodules never got large enough to warrant a biopsy, it's a dead issue now. Filter the air that you breath if they are dusty or are like hair spray aerosols. Vacuuming of carpets generate a lot of dust particles too.

I was drawn to your comment as to how one copes with nodules under observation because it really hit a nerve with me, if I had the answer to this question, I would gladly have done it. I had read an article about getting a ct scan after quitting smoking, it was highly recommended in case there's anything wrong. I managed to get a doctor to do so and sure enough I had a nodule in upper left lobe that they referred to as suspicious, it had some of the known signs but no one was calling it cancer yet. They told me biopsy wasn't possible because it was under 9 cm. and too risky to try so I had to follow up with ct scans for three years and in 2020 it turned into cancer with another nodule showing up beside it...they decided to remove the upper lobe to be safe from spreading. I was done with my treatment and they felt I didn't need anything else. I with there was a better way to cope with the stress this disease causes, I have tried so many things to do so and still the "fear" is strong. I looked for help online and found this place to try and find some answers and I did find many answers to my questions. I don't feel quite as alone and although I know that we have to deal with what life gives us but I also believe in strength in numbers, it really helps to find others to talk to and hear what they went through and also what they did to get help.,,it's never perfect but we try to make the most of what there is. I really feel you're in a good place, you had early detection and it doesn't get better than that, thanks to early detection they have announced that lung cancer is no longer a death sentence, that's the most encouraging news I've heard in years. It doesn't sound like you have anything to worry about and you know they didn't find any cancer, having nodules in your lungs are caused from exposure to the pollution in the air is very common and most often the nodules are benign, also you never smoked and that's a big plus for you, all the best to you.

I would ask what the criteria is for a PET scan to evaluate whether the metabolic data indicates malignancy. It is true that 10mm likely cannot be biopsied in a traditional way. But there are options. I watched one nervously from 6mm until it reached 14. At that point they did surgery and took the whole lobe. Given it was located on the outer edge of my lung, a wedge removal might have been done earlier with much less protracted recovery.
But more than likely they will justify removing it and biopsy it during surgery as they did me.

I’m just correcting my previous message about lung nodules…I said my nodule was under 9 cm. but it should be 9 mm., this was in reference to the nodule being too small to biopsy.

I would just like to confirm that you did not have a PET scan before having your lobe removed and as it went from 6mm to 14mm the risk of cancer was greater as once it doubles I am told that is the case so your lobe was removed not knowing for sure it was cancer?
With mine last CT at 9mm they advised would do a biopsy if it was possible but due to location it is not..

My nodule was first noticed on CT screening when it was 6mm. I had a pet scan the next year when it was about 7mm and it showed some metabolic activity but nothing definitive. The next year the ct showed it was to 9 and the year after that it went to 14 and the docs said let’s get it out.

But to your point I did not know for certain that it was cancer. According to their model there was only a 25% chance that it was. (unless they blew smoke up my skirt to keep me calm. 🙄

I know the feeling. I have had one since 2009. It is now 2.9 cm. My oncologist wants a ct before I see him a year from now.

@abartels, 2.9 cm is fairly substantial, but it sounds slow growing. Have you had a recent PET scan?

My last MRI was on 12/1/2023. The size is very concerning.

But you haven’t had a pet scan yet?