going for needle biopsy

sharky44
sharky44 Member Posts: 4
in Lung Cancer #1
I had an enucleation in my right due to melenoma in dec of 2008. This did not spread anywhere else in the body. March of 2009 I had two skin melenomas that I had surgicaly removed with great sucess and tested lymphnodes and they were neg also.. Now in Sept of 2009 I had 5 spots show up on my lungs. I have mri of the adomen every three mo and CT of the chest every six. After finding the spots on my lungs I had another pet scan and it was neg also. The noduels were around 5 to 6mm at this time and to small to biopsy. So we had another ct of chest in dec 2010 and one grew from 6mm to 9mm. Still couldn't do a biopsy because of the blood vessels around the noduel . We then had a pet scan in feb 2011 and this one spot grew fro 9mm to 12 mm and had minimal hypermetobolic uptake of suv 2.5. They also said that ther were numerous additional pulmonary noduels show up but were to small to evaluate and were not grossly hypermetobolic. Now on monday we are going for a needle biopsy. Doc says he thinks it is melenoma coming back and a very slim chance it could be anything else because of my history.I'm wondering if this could be some other than melenoma. I've had these spots for over a year and only one is starting to grow a little bit.I don't smoke or drink or do any of these things. Would appreciate any coments thank you and god bless.

Comments

  • PBJ Austin
    PBJ Austin Member Posts: 347 Member
    #2
    Hello sharky
    I cannot tell you if this is melanoma or not but of course there's a chance it could be something else. To make a very long story short I had a huge mass in my lung and they told me it would be very unusual for something so large not to be cancer. I was devastated and shocked as I am also a lifelong non-smoker and smoke avoider. They did test after test including the needle biopsy, the bronchoscopy and an EBUS and although they couldn't find cancer, the still had no clue as to what it was. After 3 months I got so sick they did an upper right lobectomy and discovered it was just a bad infection.

    I know how hard it is to await test results, and I know the frustration of not getting answers. The best advice I can offer is to try to keep busy this weekend and try to remain positive. It might or might not be cancer but even if it is, that is most certainly NOT a death sentence. My beautiful young sister was told in 2009 that she had brain cancer and they gave her 3-7 years. However she has defied the odds and is now cancer free. No matter what they tell you on Monday you must keep positive and tell youself you can beat this.

    Good luck and God bless you as well.
  • sharky44
    sharky44 Member Posts: 4
    #3
    PBJ Austin said:

    Hello sharky
    I cannot tell you if this is melanoma or not but of course there's a chance it could be something else. To make a very long story short I had a huge mass in my lung and they told me it would be very unusual for something so large not to be cancer. I was devastated and shocked as I am also a lifelong non-smoker and smoke avoider. They did test after test including the needle biopsy, the bronchoscopy and an EBUS and although they couldn't find cancer, the still had no clue as to what it was. After 3 months I got so sick they did an upper right lobectomy and discovered it was just a bad infection.

    I know how hard it is to await test results, and I know the frustration of not getting answers. The best advice I can offer is to try to keep busy this weekend and try to remain positive. It might or might not be cancer but even if it is, that is most certainly NOT a death sentence. My beautiful young sister was told in 2009 that she had brain cancer and they gave her 3-7 years. However she has defied the odds and is now cancer free. No matter what they tell you on Monday you must keep positive and tell youself you can beat this.

    Good luck and God bless you as well.

    hello
    Thank you so much for your comments. We were told there is about one in ten chance that something could go wrong in the procedure and have a chest tube for a couple of days. I am just a little worried that the cancer might have come back. It seems like the doctors always think the worst case senario. I'm so ecited to hear about your sister being cancer free! How old was she when she found out.I really appreciate the positive words of encouragement.It just seems to me that if it was cancer it would have grown faster than it has. But we were told that melenoma can sit for months before it comes out.Thanks again for replying to me.
  • PBJ Austin
    PBJ Austin Member Posts: 347 Member
    #4
    sharky44 said:

    hello
    Thank you so much for your comments. We were told there is about one in ten chance that something could go wrong in the procedure and have a chest tube for a couple of days. I am just a little worried that the cancer might have come back. It seems like the doctors always think the worst case senario. I'm so ecited to hear about your sister being cancer free! How old was she when she found out.I really appreciate the positive words of encouragement.It just seems to me that if it was cancer it would have grown faster than it has. But we were told that melenoma can sit for months before it comes out.Thanks again for replying to me.

    Hello again
    My sister was 25 years old when she was diagnosed with Anaplastic Astrocytoma, grade 3. She's now 27. She never believed the grim prognosis and told us from the start she would beat this and so far she is a winner. Whether or not the cancer will return is anyone's guess but it's now been a year since the cancer disappeared so we are celebrating and feeling thankful for every day.

    I will be thinking of you Monday and when you are well enough I hope you will post back. Good luck.
  • sharky44
    sharky44 Member Posts: 4
    #5
    PBJ Austin said:

    Hello again
    My sister was 25 years old when she was diagnosed with Anaplastic Astrocytoma, grade 3. She's now 27. She never believed the grim prognosis and told us from the start she would beat this and so far she is a winner. Whether or not the cancer will return is anyone's guess but it's now been a year since the cancer disappeared so we are celebrating and feeling thankful for every day.

    I will be thinking of you Monday and when you are well enough I hope you will post back. Good luck.

    Hey PBJ Austin
    I went for my needle biopsy today and everything went good. The specialist surgeon took some more scans b4 performong the biopsy and went ahead as planed.He thought that the noduel may have not grown as much as they thought. He thought it might still be around 9mm or slightly bigger. Doc said it was in a very tricky spot and thought he got a good shot at the noduel but there is a slim chance he might have just scaped it.We find the results out on friday and I'm just praying that it is not my cancer and if it is maybe its at an early enough stage to get some kind of treatment.Thanks agian for talking to me. How are you doing? I would like to more about your cituation. Looking forward to hearing from you.god bless
  • PBJ Austin
    PBJ Austin Member Posts: 347 Member
    #6
    sharky44 said:

    Hey PBJ Austin
    I went for my needle biopsy today and everything went good. The specialist surgeon took some more scans b4 performong the biopsy and went ahead as planed.He thought that the noduel may have not grown as much as they thought. He thought it might still be around 9mm or slightly bigger. Doc said it was in a very tricky spot and thought he got a good shot at the noduel but there is a slim chance he might have just scaped it.We find the results out on friday and I'm just praying that it is not my cancer and if it is maybe its at an early enough stage to get some kind of treatment.Thanks agian for talking to me. How are you doing? I would like to more about your cituation. Looking forward to hearing from you.god bless

    Hi there
    I'm glad it went well and I will keep my fingers crossed for you all week.

    I am doing quite well. It was a long recovery from my surgery and I still have some pain in my chest wall but nothing to complain about. My breathing continues to improve and the doctor seems happy with my breathing test results. It's still a little surreal to think all this happened and I know have just 1.5 lungs but life can take some strange turns.

    I will keep a positive thought for your and I hope to hear from you when your results are in. All the best to you.

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