Growing Lung Nodule Questions

Posted by Denise @azmn, Sep 4, 2022

Hello, my name is Denise and I am a recurrent metastatic ovarian cancer survivor. Before going on maintenance therapy, I had a chest CT and they found a nodule.

We decided it was best to wait and rescan in 3 months. Over the past 9 months, the nodule keeps growing.

I have had 2 biopsies and both were inconclusive. I have been told it's not cancerous and that's a load off my mind because I lost my dad to metastatic lung cancer.

I have had 90 days of fluconazole and it didn't make any difference at all. I am thinking the nodule is small in size (17mm x 12mm).

Long story short, because it's growing, they want to remove it. I am thinking a PET would be more appropriate to see if there's any uptake.

What do you think I should do?

Much gratitude
Denise

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Health Support Group.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Sep 4, 2022

Welcome @azmn, while your nodule is small, I understand that your doctors are concerned because it is growing. Providers are generally more worried about larger lung nodules and those that grow over time.

Lung nodules are often a topic of discussion in the Lung Health group. I'd like to invite @merpreb @trip03 @felix536 into this discussion to share their thoughts and experiences with lung nodules.

Denise, I'm a bit confused about the timeline of your message. Are you currently waiting for 3 months for the next scan? Or are they suggesting it's time for surgery because it is growing?

marys1956 | @marys1956 | Sep 4, 2022

How do I get to the Lung Health group - I can’t find it. Thanks,
Mary S

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Sep 4, 2022

In reply to @marys1956 "How do I get to the Lung Health group - I can’t find it. Thanks, Mary..." + (show)

Mary, your can find all the groups by clicking "Groups" at the top of any page. This will take you to the listing in alphabetical order of every group.

Here is the link directly to the Lung Health group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/lung-conditions/

Denise | @azmn | Sep 4, 2022

In reply to @colleenyoung "Welcome @azmn, while your nodule is small, I understand that your doctors are concerned because it..." + (show)

I just had a scan ( 5 scans total and each time it’s growing) and I see the doctor this Wednesday.

I am not sure why I was told it was not cancer. However if the Fluconazole didn’t stop the growing, I would have it removed? If it’s not cancer why just repeat scans? Why perform such an invasive surgery?

🙏🏻
Denise Swensen

Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Sep 5, 2022

Denise- Hi. It is nice to meet you. I also question why they haven't suggested a PET scan. I just had one and it showed a quicker growth pattern than what showed up in my CT. If you want one, ask for one. Also, have you asked them why they haven't run one before surgery?

Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Sep 5, 2022

In reply to @azmn "I just had a scan ( 5 scans total and each time it’s growing) and I..." + (show)

Denise- I would think that because it's growing it poses a danger that it could turn into cancer, or something else. I don't blame you for feeling scared and confused. I'd still go for the PET scan if your insurance will cover it. I say this because insurance companies have certain criteria for scans.

Multiple scans are done to trace the growth pattern of this lesion. And since you have had cancer before they are keeping a close eye on you. I applaud this. Try not to be afraid of the CT scans. I've had scans for the past 25 years. There isn't a danger with such a low dose of radiation of getting cancer from it. I started my scans when they were in very high doses.

Merry

Denise | @azmn | Sep 5, 2022

In reply to @merpreb "Denise- Hi. It is nice to meet you. I also question why they haven't suggested a..." + (show)

Thank you so very much Merry for your response. 🙏🏻

Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I’ll ask for a PET at my appointment Wednesday.

Denise

Denise | @azmn | Nov 30, 2022

Hello, thank you everyone for your feedback.

I wanted to provide the outcome and next steps of my post for closure.

I had lung wedge resection surgery and they remove the wedge with the nodule (upper left lung). The surgeon followed suit with previous pathologies of it’s some type of infection that’s causing the growth to continue. Then I got the final pathology report and it’s totally different. This has made me believe it’s the only way to go from now on.
Pathology results: Mass forming pulmonary venous infarction described in the setting of chemotherapy treatment. Elastic trichrome staining highlights the area of pulmonary venous infarction as well as multiple pulmonary
veins with occlusive thromboemboli.

My medical oncologist had an e-consult with hematology oncologist and it was highly recommended to start on an anticoagulant for the rest of my life.
I have decided to give it a go.

I have ovarian cancer and have been on chemo for almost 3 years. However, due to the results, I’ve decided to stop all chemo.

Denise | @azmn | Nov 30, 2022

In reply to @merpreb "Denise- Hi. It is nice to meet you. I also question why they haven't suggested a..." + (show)

Thank you Merry. I appreciate you.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Dec 18, 2022

In reply to @azmn "Hello, thank you everyone for your feedback. I wanted to provide the outcome and next steps..." + (show)

@azmn Denise, I’m tagging @merpreb and @naturegirl5 on this message too because I think they’ll appreciate getting the update as I did.

Am I understanding the report correctly that the chemo treatment may be causing the pulmonary infarction and that it was recommended to stop chemo at this time? Or forever?