Taking too long? Normal Procedure?

speedball

Hello all, I'm new here and like most, worried. The first week in Jan. 06, I was told an abdominal ct (another issue which appears ok) showed a 9cm. lesion on my right, lower lung lobe. No other spots.

Two weeks later, I had a full body PET scan done. No other spots. At least none large enough to "light up". One week later a bronchoscopy was done. Just below my upper lobe is the lesion which is growing into my main stem bronchial tube, blocking about 80% of it. This has also caused my lower lobe to collapse.

The lung Dr. wants to test my heart pressure (catheter both sides) to see if it can support a whole lung removal which is very likely necessary. Also a lung CT scan for lesion size, exact location and check lymph nodes for swelling. This could determine whether surgery should be performed.

Does this all sound proper? I'm at the Dr's. mercy. It's already been six weeks and I don't want to hold up surgery but I also don't want to make a bad mistake. This all sounds reasonable to me. Also, the Drs. can't tell me about the staging with the collapsed lobe. They say the lesion may be smaller than 9 cm.

Any thoughts? Oh, I'm a 54 yr. old male. Sorry for being so long winded. I hope I can say that in a few weeks!

Plymouthean

Hi. I'm a 4+ year survivor of nsclc, 3b. My testing also took what seemed like forever, but was actually completed in about 4 or 5 weeks. During that time, I was very anxious about getting started with treatment, and not giving the tumor any more time to grow. I was told that the cancer was a slow-growing tumor, and that the time involved was normal. Based on my experience, I would suggest talking to your doctor and asking a lot of questions. The more you know about this disease, and your situation, the more you will be involved in decisions regarding treatment. Also, you will be more relaxed if you understand what's going on. If you are at all uncomfortable with the pace of your treatment, you can also get a second opinion. Your doctor will not be insulted by that. You need to be comfortable with your doctor(s), and you should try to educate yourself as much as possible, about the disease. The worry is, of course, absolutely normal. For what it's worth, I was diagnosed, at age 67, as inoperable/incurable. Here I am, after chemo, radiation and surgery, cancer free. Keep a positive attitude.

speedball

Thanks! Just talking to someone helps. I wish they could tell me the stage, but I'm happy right now that the cancer is not showing anywhere else.