Multiple Ground Glass Lung Nodules

ask a doctor for a 2nd opinion from
ndximaging.com or such

@hercules - I am so glad you will be seeing the pulmonologist soon. I agree that without a few answers waiting a year would make me feel anxious.

Let's talk about "ground glass density" - it is simply a radiologist's term that describes cloudy areas on an image - these may be transient (after an infection, during allergy season) or not. They can also indicate a current infection of some sort. The "part solid" nodule also sounds like it could be similar.

Can you explain why you had the CT? Are you experiencing lung or heart issues? You already did the hard part of protecting your lungs - quitting smoking. And you are obviously looking after your health (like with the heart CT.) If you want to do something proactive in the next 6 weeks, maybe take a look at your diet and exercise and see if you can improve one or the other.

Hi Sue, thank you for your reply. Your description of ground glass density sounds less ominous than some of what I have read and gives me a little hope. I guess it puzzles me because I haven't had any colds, coughs, allergies or any respiratory issues whatsoever in a very very long time. The last thing I had was a mild case of covid back in August of last year so about a year ago now. Could an illness that long ago still show up as GG nodules a year later? I had the CT scan because I am a former smoker, just barely meeting the new updated criteria for LDCT annual screening for lung cancer. Age 52, 22 pack year history, 15 years since quitting. Since I had the heart ct scan at age 50, my dr. said that if there were any pulmonary nodules they would have seen them then. I am not sure why at 51 I didn't get the lung screen but this year at 52 decided it was time to start. I had it done Friday last week and my head is still spinning. My dad passed away from NSCLC Stage IIIb Diagnosed at age 68 and succumbed to it only 10 months later. He was also a former smoker with a lot longer pack history than myself but had also been quit 20 years by the time he was diagnosed. I understand first hand how devastating this illness can be. To say I've suffered from PTSD from his experience would be an understatement. I am constantly working on my diet and exercise and do fairly well but always room for improvement. 🙂 Thank you again for your reply.

good description here :
https://radiologyinplainenglish.com/ground-glass-nodule-on-ct/
here a dataset from cancer imaging archive :
https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/collection/lidc-idri/

Thank you, there's alot of good information there. I guess it's just waiting game time. Something I really struggle with in this area unfortunately. I have an appointment with a pulmonologist Nov. 1st and I plan on having her look at my heart scan from 2022 and this lung cancer ct scan from Sept 2024. Maybe she can tell me if these are truly a new occurrence and already achieved these sizes or if they were there but perhaps smaller back in 2022. I have read that the heart scans may not visualize all portions of the lungs but because these four nodules are scattered throughout both lobes in upper, mid, and lower lobes it's hard to believe they could have been missed. Thanks again for the links and your input.

Just to reassure with regard to what heart vs lung scans show, I had a heart scan last week and saw my pulmonologist the same day, so she read it for me - no mention was made of the bronchiectasis or scarring we know is there. So I need to have another on, for my lungs, next week.
I think it all depends on the radiologists focus when reading the scan.

That is kind of what I was thinking as well... either the field of view didn't include all of my lungs, the radiologist was not really focused on the lungs, or perhaps something about the slices of the images maybe being a different thickness didn't pick these up. Of course it could also be true they are in fact new, occurring sometime during the past two years. Hence, my concern with them being already 4-7mm in size. I think its a bummer that you have to have one scan on your heart one week and now another on your lungs the next week! Seems like they could both be tackled in one scan even if it took two different specialists to read them for each thing... but what do I know.. not much! In any case, I hope you get the very best reports back from each. Thanks again for your thoughts.

You might want to consider an infectious disease doctor in addition to a pulmonologist- the more eyes on your case the better- and peace of mind for you. Wishing you well. Irene5

Hi Irene,

Thank you for your reply. I think that sounds like a good idea too. I have been wondering if the nodules I have could possibly be something bacterial or fungal because to my knowledge, I have not been sick with any viral or respiratory illness in about a year. Not so much as a sniffle. I have been gardening all summer, working with soil and fertilizer and some other chemicals. The granule fertilizer I used on my shrubs a couple months ago was very stinky and fine dust like powder when I was spreading it. I know I inhaled quite a bit of that before I got wise and decided to put on an N95 mask. It smelled horrible to the point I couldn't stand it and I could still smell it well through the mask. Now I read on the bag that it has nitrogen, poultry manure, feather meal, bone meal, and colony forming units of the following species... bacillus licheniformis, bacillus megaterium, bacillus pupilas, bacillus subtitles, paenibacillus polymyxa. The fertilizer is called Epsom Organic Evergreen Tone. And on the bag it says 100% organic and safe for pets and humans. This is obviously way above my pay grade but I will take your suggestion to heart and start searching for an infectious disease dr. in my area. Thank you!

@hercules I have learned in my 75 years on this earth that what is safe one year may not be safe the next. Lung cancer runs like water in my family so I am checked continually as I have serious infectious lung diseases and too many nodules to keep track of at this point. It is highly possible you picked up some lovely bacteria in the soil or from the organic fertilizer while gardening. Organic doesn’t necessary mean healthy. It just means free of certain things as far as the company is aware. We had a beloved black lab - not even 18 months old who drank run off water from fertilizer my husband used and got fibrosarcoma and died. We never pursued it, but the vet says most likely it was from that. That fertilizer company has had lawsuits. Other than seeing an ID doctor I suggest you wear an N95 mask or similar while gardening. Sometimes the only way to figure out definitively what is down there is with a biopsy. Aspergillosis was djscovered with mine. Another tidbit I have learned is you know your body - listen to it and its infinite wisdom! And advocate for yourself!! Blessings, irene5