@skm101, by now you've probably had your lobectomy. A lobotomy is a COMPLETELY different surgery, done for different reasons. 🙂 I had an upper right lobectomy in 2018, and I have a hard time even finding one of the scars today.

I've been through a diagnosis a few times now. In my public Lung Cancer Awareness and Prescreening talk, I call that time "The Whirlwind". Your doctor knows you have cancer, which is fundamentally a group of fast-growing cells, so they want to remove it ASAP. And we're not Oncologists ourselves, so we always feel overwhelmed. Your feelings are natural.

Medicine is not an exact science. When they say the biopsy could be inconclusive, it means they're not confident in getting the right cells. None of our current scans are good enough to give an accurate 3D reconstruction of the target. And, as was already said, a PET scan lights up for inflammation, infection, and metastasis. That's why the instructions include 'no strong exertion for 24 hours before the scan'.

In answer to your last question, it probably depends on where the lymph nodes are. If they're in or near the lobe they are resecting, then they will come out. At least, that's what happened to me. However, I'm not an M.D.

The great news is that once the surgery is over, your doctors will have the cancer! They will be able to send it to a lab and find out what type it is. Make a note to ask. Lung cancer research has finally progressed by leaps and bounds in these last 10 to 15 years. Today, we have targeted therapies like the Osimertinib (Tagrisso) that I'm on. One daily pill, and I get on with my life. I'm 3.5 years with Stage 4 lung cancer and still working full-time supporting NASA, walking my dog, building and planting gardens, and having fun with my wife. I'm one of the minority that says, "Go Big Pharma!" lol

All the best to you. You found a good group. There are a lot of sympathetic survivors here who are happy to listen to your story and share theirs. If you want more, then check out go2.org and their monthly "Raising Hope" online session. When you have the time, let us know how you're doing.