← Return to 8 mm lung nodule possible malignancy: What should I do?

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Profile picture for Lisa, Volunteer Mentor @lls8000

Hello Deb @ready2talk2000, Welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm glad you have consistent care through a pulmonologist, and one that thoroughly reviews your images. I have found that doctors often review the images themselves. They are usually very good at noticing areas of concern. I've had some that don't even seem to read the radiologist report, but they do pull up the images and show them to me. I appreciate that approach, even though I rarely understand what I'm looking at.
A 3-month waiting period between CT scans is generally the shortest time frame that we see, unless there is a change in how you are feeling: cough, pressure in your chest, swollen lymph nodes, etc. The waiting can be difficult. There are many things that can cause nodules in our lungs, most are not cancerous. For now, you know that there is something that needs further monitoring but try not to get ahead of that. Were the nodules first identified through lung screening, or were they found incidentally when you were treated for something else?

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Replies to "Hello Deb @ready2talk2000, Welcome to Mayo Connect. I'm glad you have consistent care through a pulmonologist,..."

The first 5 mm nodule was discovered when I had a chest CT in 2022 as a follow-up to a chest x-ray a month earlier that showed an opacity in an area of the chest.
The follow-up chest CT said I had a 5 mm ground-glass nodule in the right lung.
Since that time I have had 3 mo, 6 mo, and this last time I waited 12 months since things appeared to be improving. However, the 12 mo chest ct I just had Aug. 14 of this month showed two 3 mm nodules and a new 8 mm nodule.
My mom died of kidney cancer at age 53. She only lived 9 months after diagnosis.
I have a big family history of heart attacks, stroke, and cancer.
I've already been diagnosed with Stage 1 heart failure, but doing pretty well. I turn 67 this month.
I promised myself that I would never ignore anything just hoping it got better and these issues are not something I want to play around with.
Thank you so much for your reply. It does help not feeling alone in this.
Take care,
Deb