Mass on lung and lymph nodes

I feel so bad for you! None of us are expecting this. I have a Pet scan on Jan 25th. I already survived colon cancer which was genetic. I actually visited my cancer doctor in November and all my blood results were completely normal and they check everything! I take care of my 5 year old granddaughter and the thought of leaving her or my mom behind is more heartbreaking than I can stand. One bit of hope I can give you is that my pulmonary doctor did say that just because a mass is a certain size, does not mean that all of that is cancer. The cancer may be a much smaller area with other cells around it. Did they tell you anything about the lymph nodes? I will keep you in my thoughts! I am so, SO sorry you are going through this and you're not alone!!

I also have a 5 year old granddaughter and it breaks my heart to think about leaving her, my two daughters and my husband . Heartbreaking to think about life going on without me. I haven’t told my daughters yet and won’t u til I finish my tests and get the full picture. Telling them is going to be heartbreaking. My mom died last year and dad been gone for a long time. I’m glad my mom not here to witness this. I’m sorry about your colon cancer and now facing new fears. What part of the country do you live in? Are you going to Mayo Clinic!

I was told I probably had cancer after a 3.7 cm mass was found in my left lung. A lot of ground glass opacities and atelectasis. After 2 CT scans and a PET scan over 2 months didn’t show a change, even though I had taken several antibiotics, I made an appointment at the Mayo Clinic. My first pulmonologist at home said “it had to come out”. So I wanted the best if I needed an operation.
After my consultation in Rochester and another CT to prepare for the robotic bronchoscopy…….the “mass” had shrunk by half. According to the pulmonologist “cancer doesn’t shrink”. It is suspected that I have a fungal infection. I will go back in 2 months for a repeat CT to see if it has continued to shrink. So don’t lose hope. I was preparing for the worse case scenario and got good news. If I need a biopsy later I will write back.

@bellsina71, I can certainly understand how scared you must be. A lung nodule (or mass) is a small abnormal area that is sometimes found during a CT scan of the chest. It's natural that your first thought leaps right to cancer. There are many different types of growths that can form in the lungs that are easy to treat or don't even require treatment. @deedee1981's story is a good example of a mass not being cancerous.

IF your mass is cancer, then you are doing everything right. You are in medical care and a PET scan has been scheduled.

The hardest job you have now is to de-stress while you wait. Not easy I know. But remember that no matter the outcome, being of healthy mind and body is your best bet. What things help you feel calm or distract you?

@detroitmom23, thinking of you as you prepare for more testing this coming week. Did you find out how the biopsy will be done?

Thank you for thinking of me, it’s much appreciated. They are doing bronchoscope and putting me under general anesthesia. I’m so grateful for that. Brain MRI done yesterday, PET scan next Saturday and Biopsy two days later. . Just numb dealing with all this 😞. Prayers appreciated!

@bellsina71, this is a repeat of the response I wrote to you in another discussion. But it bears repeating perhaps? 🙂 Spitting up blood and being told you have a mass on your lungs is scary. There's no doubt about that! There are many different types of growths that can form in the lungs that are not cancer. Sometimes these may be benign conditions that are easy to treat or don't even require treatment. Lung nodules (or mass) are very common.

IF your mass is cancer, then you are doing everything right. You are in medical care and a PET scan has been scheduled.

The hardest job you have now is to de-stress while you wait. Not easy I know. But remember that no matter the outcome, being of healthy mind and body is your best bet. What things help you feel calm or distract you?

As I go through the nerve wracking period of waiting to get PET scan and biopsy done on lung, I was wondering if anyone else had symptoms that included shoulder pain, ear pain and even achy teeth. This is what sent me to Dr for cat scan in first place. It was at that time he suggested a lung screen and that’s when mass was found in lung. The neck scan showed nothing in neck. Waiting for results of head MRI done 2 days ago.

@bellsina71 how are you doing today?

I live in Wisconsin. I go through Aurora which seems to be pretty good. I have an excellent oncologist already which I just saw November 17th. All my tests were normal. Now blood tests can't check for cancer but there are certain indicators on those tests and they went over the results again with me today and they said this is just perplexing cuz they were all normal. I have a pet scan on Friday I moved it up by going to a different hospital but I still don't see the pulmonary doctor until a week and a half after that so I'll be driving myself crazy. And then he'll schedule the broncoscopy. I understand your fear! I am terrified I can't even keep it together in the morning. I look at my granddaughter's cute little face when I'm taking her to school, and I think of what she's going through already. It's just too much. There's so much they can do though now, even in the last 3 years lung cancer treatments have come so far. So don't feel hopeless, and you may want to tell you're grown girls, they might want to be there to support you right now. It's got to be so hard keeping this all in! I don't know how you're doing that. Sometimes it's just better to say something and have that extra love and compassion from the people that care about you the most. And please have hope, and not only hope have faith because hope walks through the fire, faith leaps over it.