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Jul 30, 2012 - 5:35 am
hey everyone , my mum is a 74 year old lady and has just found out that she has a 5cm mass on her right lobe of her lung, her gp told her that he is 99 per cent that it is cancer, he gave her a cat scan and bone density test and said he can only see the mass on her lung. |
Joined: Mar 2011
It's hard even to know what to ask ...
... until you have a diagnosis, which the "99% sure" isn't. They will undoubtedly want to do a biopsy, and until then, try to keep yourself from concluding that it's definitely cancer.
About the only other thing I could think to ask at this point is whether they plan to do a PET scan. They also might be able to get a look at it via a bronchoscopy, which would be another worthwhile thing to ask.
Best of luck to your mom.
Joined: Mar 2011
Comprehensive list of questions
This is from the ACS website, there are sections for each phase of treatment. There is room to write down the answers or take along a tape recorder and record the answers.
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003285-pdf.pdf
Joined: Mar 2009
Don't panic before the biopsy
I had a 7.3 cm mass in my lung and they told me with great certainty it was lung cancer. As it turned out it was a bad infection and no cancer. Wait for pathology reports before you believe anything. Best of luck.
Joined: Aug 2010
worried with no biopsy unnesecary chemo started
PBJ did they give you antibiotics for the infection? Also how did they found out it was an infection, did they do a biopsy? They say my husbands mass is to little to try either type of biopsy in the lung. Hope yours cleared with no complications. He has 5 very small mass 1 has grown since last scan.
CEM
Joined: Mar 2009
Sorry I didn't post back sooner
I haven't been on this board for a few days, I apologize for keeping you waiting.
Unfortunately antibiotics didn't help. They did a needle biopsy and the results were inconclusive. They didn't find cancer but they didn't find anything else either, all they found was dead tissue so they told me it could still be cancer since they can't disprove that. Then they did a broncoscopy, then an EBUS with the exact same results. Then they did a PET scan to see if I had cancer somewhere else. Inbetween all these tests they tried antibiotics which didn't work. Eventually I got really sick with pneumonia and my heart was racing. That's when they realized the infection had destroyed my upper right lobe so they removed the lobe. Once they got the lobe out they could test it thoroughly and that's when they said it was a bad infection.
I would also be very concerned if they started chemo with no biopsy. Have you asked for a second opinion? I wish you the best.