Small lung nodule: Turned out to be cancer after 5 years monitoring

Hi Merry. March CT scant says "suspicious for multifocal adenocarcinoma, no change from December". I had biggest nodule removed December and that was stage 1b. And now there are four remaining (1 is entirely ground glass, 1 is entirely GG/sub-solid, 2 are part solid). Am waiting for 6 months from surgery CT-scan to see what is next. Would have needed to do needle biopsy of largest one to do radiation at 3 months and that comes with a risk so Dr wants me to wait until 6 months.

I think that it's a good call from your doctor! My doctor hasn't done biopsies on me for ages. They just zap when one enlarges (if it grows to a certain size that's usually an indication that it is probably cancer.

My next CT is July and they will most likely have to zap. But it's only my 5th cancer lesion in 14 years and my 6th in 24. Not bad! Right?

Merry, at what size do they "zap' them? I have about 4 other small nodules on the same lobe. That is the reasoning for taking the whole lobe. Not sure I like that idea, but it's a 100 percent cure or so I'm told.

Hi Merry. March CT scant says "suspicious for multifocal adenocarcinoma, no change from December". I had biggest nodule removed December and that was stage 1b. And now there are four remaining (1 is entirely ground glass, 1 is entirely GG/sub-solid, 2 are part solid). Am waiting for 6 months from surgery CT-scan to see what is next. Would have needed to do needle biopsy of largest one to do radiation at 3 months and that comes with a risk so Dr wants me to wait until 6 months.

Hi Merry. March CT scant says "suspicious for multifocal adenocarcinoma, no change from December". I had biggest nodule removed December and that was stage 1b. And now there are four remaining (1 is entirely ground glass, 1 is entirely GG/sub-solid, 2 are part solid). Am waiting for 6 months from surgery CT-scan to see what is next. Would have needed to do needle biopsy of largest one to do radiation at 3 months and that comes with a risk so Dr wants me to wait until 6 months.

It depends on the hospital, really because not even every CT scan is calibrated the same. My last SBRT targeted a 5MM lesion.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169500218304045
Curative lung cancers are a touchy story. It all depends on the surgeon or technician. I have had 2 SBRTs and 2 lobectomies. The suture line for my second lobectomy lit up in a PET scan. But I was also knicked in my pulmonary artery and that was messy with a lot of blood loss. So I'm not surprised. My hospital is a teaching hospital, it's in Boston. MGH (mass general).

I trust my surgeon to do the absolute best that he can for me so that I will not have any returning cancer. But even he isn't God, as much as I think of him as such. He has been my doctor for 25 years this year and for 25 years with my first cancer being a very fast-growing adenocarcinoma that was caught early.

I wish that I could advise you about lobectomies. How long do you think that you will play around waiting for a certain size?

I don't plan on waiting at all. On Monday I'm having a suspicious bone lesion removed from my shoulder. If it's benign then we will proceed. If it is cancerous then I guess it's a whole new ball game. I was just going back an forth on radiation vs surgery, since I have the options.

I don't plan on waiting at all. On Monday I'm having a suspicious bone lesion removed from my shoulder. If it's benign then we will proceed. If it is cancerous then I guess it's a whole new ball game. I was just going back an forth on radiation vs surgery, since I have the options.