In Oct 2021 I had some shortness of breath. In Nov, I had abnormal chest x-ray, followed by abnormal CT scan followed by abnormal PET scan. Reading the reports, I knew I had a problem, so I had everything sent to Mayo and was called immediately. I went from abnormal chest x-ray to first VAT surgery in 7 weeks with Thanksgiving and Christmas in-between. They removed a 3.1 cm stage 1b cancer from RUL. They told me 80% chance it is cancer before surgery. I was part of a new process where they do robotic bronchoscopy to biopsy and if it looks suspicious, they take it out then and there to avoid making patient return for second procedure. I was driving my car a week later.
At the same time, I discovered I had a heart problem. I had an angiogram before going to Mayo and they found a blockage. But I did not do stent then because with the blood thinners I would not have been able to do the lung surgery. I waited another four months to put in a stent.
Because i have multifocal with lots of nodules in different stages of development, I started going 3 months, then once 6 months when things were quiet but then after 6 months, they decided to do second VAT on LUL (based on CT scan and PET scan). I also saw Radiation Oncologist at that point and decided to do VAT for one nodule (I like cutting them out) and then radiation on another one which was not a good candidate for surgery. With the inflammation after radiation, I had another CT scan. Next I will do a PET scan in Jan as they are watching 2 nodules, so I expect treatment. I tell them I am a recurring customer.