Appt with Thoracic Surgeon -UPDATE

geotina said:

Peggy:
Jennie (idlehuntes) and Phil both have had procedures and are about to undergo rfa/cyberknife for lung mets. They have experience in this area with their procedures and can fill you in. Send them a pm and perhaps you can even communicate by phone. Phil has had procedures a few times and is an excellent source of info on lung mets.

Best to you - Tina

Pluckey,,,I too have had a wedge resection in which
laproscopically a 1.4 cm tumor was removed from my upper left lobe. I have 3 small scars on my left side under my shoulder blade. All in all I went in Tuesday and went home Friday and was doing other things in about 4-6 weeks. mm size is very small and I would in any measure rather have it out than let it stay in me for a while. I am like you, we can path it on the table then if its benign great, if its not then its not going to cause any more harm as it is...I would assure that the one is the only one there so that when they go in it all gets done in one shot. I am sure you will do fine...Remember, this thing was found in its minute' growth, most people aren't that lucky to have it be caught this quick..Thinking back I am not sure I wouldn't want to try the RFA to avoid unnecessary invasive options and simply do the RFA even if I had to travel (only if my insurance would cover it) Best wishes in whatever you choose to do......Love to you, Clift

lesvanb said:

Also happened to me
Hi Peggy!

Four very small nodules (one in each lobe) showed up in June 2010 that grew slowly over 9 months (I opted to watch and wait wanting to avoid a VATS on just one since I had four nodules) until one was big enough to needle biopsy (1.1 cm). mCRC was confirmed in December 2010. I had stereotactic radiation to all four in January 2011 and had an early and excellent response. I did have pneumonitis for about 5 months; just recently cleared up. My lung CT yesterday was clear. I've also been on high dose IV Vitamin C 2x/week since October 2010 and IV Iscador 1x/week plus 2x/week subcut Iscador since November 2010.

all the best, Leslie

Hey Peggy...
Sending you a PM

Jennie

Hey, Peggy Sue:)
LOL!

Hey now, I wish I could speak more about node involvement but I can't. I would need to study some and even then....

What does sound good is that "this" is slow growing and I could not agree more with 'watching and waiting.' I think there are many of us who jump the gun and start going "wild-a$$" and start forcing the action, when waiting another 2 or 3 months to see if things grow would be just as good in some cases. If they grow or keep growing, then they have to be dealt with - malignant or benign.

If they don't grow, then you watch some more. If they grow very slowly from scan to scan, again, no problem to watch a while longer, until they get big enough to present a problem.

Anyone who has done a major lung surgery (I've done 2) can tell you (and the surgeon will too) that you just can't go blasting away into the lung all "willy nilly" hacking and slicing. You want to save those times for when they are big enough to warrant attention.

Alot of scar tissue builds up from a lung surgery and I think you've only really got a set number of times that the surgeon can really get in there before it just gets too messy.

So, prudence is a wise route here. It sounds like with your cancer, a couple of months is not going to make a big impact on your situation - and if it did, you got bigger problems, know what I mean?

It all sounds fine to me at the moment. This sets the stage for all clear for you in Chicago. You know I'll be hugging you in about 2 weeks and some change, don't you?

I got my scan results last night and "played doctor." Today, I'll find out if I'm half as good as the rumor says I am...LOL!

If all goes as expected, I'll also have a clean conscience when I hit your city:)

We must talk soon and confirm, yada yada.

Love/Craig