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New here. Guess i have lung cancer looking at my PET

Lung Cancer | Last Active: Jul 23 7:54pm | Replies (51)
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@lls8000

@julie67 , Oh no, a collapsed lung can be difficult to work through. I'm glad that they recognized the situation and admitted you. As @pb50 noted, areas on PET scans can light up for several reasons. It basically means that your body is 'active' in that area; it can be an infection, fungal, cancer, COVID, inflammation, etc. The level of 'uptake', or the amount that the area lights up (super bright or just slightly), may help to guide your doctor in the next steps.
The doctors from my first bronchoscopy (of lymph fluid) told my husband that I had cancer before I was even awake. So, be thankful that it's not obviously cancer.
A bronchoscopy three years later didn't show cancer, but the PET was dimly lighting up. Eventually they determined that I had a lung fungus. Not cancer.
Your doctors have seen enough to determine that they want to do surgery to get a better look at the tissue once it's removed. It's an overwhelming time for you, that's completely understandable and normal. What type of surgery are you scheduled for, wedge resection, lobectomy? Are you comfortable with your team and the plan?

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Replies to "@julie67 , Oh no, a collapsed lung can be difficult to work through. I'm glad that..."
julie67 | @julie67 | Jul 18 4:21pm

Thanks Lisa! Overwhelmed. All I know is the oncologist I saw yesterday or the day before (all running together now) told me the surgeon wanted to 'take out the top half of my right lung'. He said I would live a normal life, most likely. Really? With half a lung?! That oncologist told me I may not need chemo if they 'get it all'. Both my primary and another oncologist I in the hospital for the collapsed lung said I WILL need chemo for any stray cancer cells. Which one is what they usually do?

And when they biopsied my lung I found out from this oncologist , they did NOT send it for bio-markers!!! He is ordering those on it. This guy is from a different hospital. Now who dropped the ball on the lung biopsy for not ordering biomarker testing (i think that's what he said)----the interventional radiologist who did the biopsy, my pulmonologist who ordered it or the oncology guy they are sending me to at the hospital where they did it?

And my pulmonologist wanted me to have another PET scan this week and another CT scan. I just had both in MAY!!! Do they do them that often?? what, are they just curious how fast this is spreading as i sit here being a dying guinea pig??

thanks, freaking out. This thing is growing fast and nothing getting done. julie

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