Update

DeloresBlackcow
DeloresBlackcow Member Posts: 7
in Anal Cancer #1
Just wanted to give an update on my earlier post. My Oncology Radioligist called me today with the results from my pet scan done last week. He started with good and bad news, the anal cancer area that we treated is looking fine, But there is now a spot on your lung that was not there before. I have to say I was devastated, although I know from all the research I have done on cancer, that it is never really gone, just in remission which can and probably will come back at any time or anywhere in your body, still even knowing this I did not expect it to come back so soon. I am going to have to get a lung biopsy done and my Radioligist has already called my Chemo doctor. If the biopsy shows that it is cancer I don't think I will let them do any more treatments, because I watched my younger sister fight her cancer (colon) for about 2 years, it moved to many different places in her body and she kept having surgeries and treatments until it went to her brain and she slipped into a coma and then passed away at 32 years old. She went through so much pain and suffering, I am 63 years old and I don't think I am up for that. Thanks for listening.

Delores

Comments

  • RoseC
    RoseC Member Posts: 559
    #2
    Hi D,
    Please don't give up
    Hi D,

    Please don't give up hope too soon. Anal cancer can be CURED (not just remission). Cancer is different depending on each individual situation (it's NOT all the same) - some go into remission while some are cured - yes CURED. I know Z had some lung problems after her anal cancer treatment and came through them ok. She will, I'm sure, post - she's a wonderful person and cares about us all (I can tell from her posts :)

    I'm so sorry about your sister - that must have been really, really rough (to say the least). But please don't give up. You never know what the future will bring. Hang on and don't give up, not now. Your anal cancer is gone - don't let this lung thing bring you down. Don't let it do it to you.

    I understand the 'not wanting to go there' thinking. If I was in your position I'm sure I would have doubts too. But please, don't let go just yet.
  • torrance
    torrance Member Posts: 118
    #3
    don't stop
    Take this one moment at a time, don't jump to conclusions. As I am sure you know attitude has a lot to do with everything. Keep your survivor attitude. Even if it is cancer, my friend had lung cancer that they caught early like you and she ended up not have to have chemo or radiation, just removal of the cancer! So many things are possible, please keep us posted and don't thing you will go down the same road as your sister. How devastating that must have been for you, and now thinking you are in the same boat. My prayers for strength are with you.

    Joanne
  • Captain11
    Captain11 Member Posts: 88
    #4
    Hi, Delores.
    Please don't
    Hi, Delores.
    Please don't give up and don't assume that it is cancer. My last scan in Feb showed that I am 2 years clear, but that a spot appeared on my lung, also... however, my onc said that because it is an "undetermined" spot, that the only thing to do is to wait for my next scan, which will be in Aug, and go from there. If the spot gets bigger, then he will look into the possibility of a biopsy. Most oncs don't biopsy spots on the lung until it is almost absolutely necessary. Especially, if the spots are small. Sometimes, it is more risky to biopsy the lung while the spot is still small.

    I have had lung spots show up on previous scans, and then would disappear by the next scan all on its own. Sometimes, all they are, are just spots... possibley from a cold, coughing, previous bronchial problems, asthma, etc. My primary care doc says that she has them on her lungs, mainly from the environment where she grew up in New Jersey.

    Cancer is probably never gone.... at least not mentally. I will forever wake up each day wondering whether or not mine will return. My oncs say probably not. And I pray that they are right. That being said... my husband had esophageal cancer, which was surgically removed. He was doing great... 3 1/2 years later, he has cancer again... they don't know where it started... it is not a recurrance, just cancer spread through lymph nodes and bone marrow. Now he is too anemic to receive the most effective chemo at the full dose. But, he is tolerating the lower dose of a lesser effective chemo, and it seems to be giving him back his appetite and easing his pain.

    There is always hope... so, don't give up... and believe it or not... laugh, laugh, laugh

    Hope you get a good report. God bless
  • z
    z Member Posts: 1,414 Member
    #5
    Delores
    Hello, As Rose said I too had a lung nodule found in my lower right lobe. The standard procedure is, since mine was so small 7mm, was to rescan in 3 months to see if it grew, well it did and I had the vats surgery to remove my lower right lobe. They biopsy the nodule right there in the OR and then proceed accordingly. Well it was a squamous cell lung cancer, so the lobe had to come out.

    I had smoked for 35 years up until my anal cancer dx and quit on 5-4-09. On 9-23-10 I had the vats to remove the lower right lobe. I am absolutley fine as I just had a ct scan at the end of April and all is well. I didn't have to have chemo or radiation and the vats procedure is easier on your body than the standard lung surgery. This was not a metasis as I had hpv in the anal cancer and not the lung cancer.

    My theory is that when I had chemo for the anal it lowered my immune system and my immune system couldn't fight off all the inflammation I caused my lungs from smoking. No scientific proof just a thought.

    Please know that not all spots that show up on lungs are cancer, there are many things they can be. I had a scan in Jan of 2012 which showed a 5mm lung nodule in my lower left lung, and at the April scan it was gone. I had a cold the week before the Jan scan and my ocolgist said he would have put off the ct scan had he known that.

    Pet scans and Ct scans pick up everything, and there is no way to dx cancer without a biopsy. I hope yours is just inflammation and it will resolve on its own. There are so many things that can be done now and the main thing is if it were to be anything, then it would have been caught very early and the curable stage. I was a stage 1a and a 85% cure rate.

    I wish you well, and keep us posted. Lori
  • eihtak
    eihtak Member Posts: 1,473 Member
    #6
    z said:

    Delores
    Hello, As Rose said I too had a lung nodule found in my lower right lobe. The standard procedure is, since mine was so small 7mm, was to rescan in 3 months to see if it grew, well it did and I had the vats surgery to remove my lower right lobe. They biopsy the nodule right there in the OR and then proceed accordingly. Well it was a squamous cell lung cancer, so the lobe had to come out.

    I had smoked for 35 years up until my anal cancer dx and quit on 5-4-09. On 9-23-10 I had the vats to remove the lower right lobe. I am absolutley fine as I just had a ct scan at the end of April and all is well. I didn't have to have chemo or radiation and the vats procedure is easier on your body than the standard lung surgery. This was not a metasis as I had hpv in the anal cancer and not the lung cancer.

    My theory is that when I had chemo for the anal it lowered my immune system and my immune system couldn't fight off all the inflammation I caused my lungs from smoking. No scientific proof just a thought.

    Please know that not all spots that show up on lungs are cancer, there are many things they can be. I had a scan in Jan of 2012 which showed a 5mm lung nodule in my lower left lung, and at the April scan it was gone. I had a cold the week before the Jan scan and my ocolgist said he would have put off the ct scan had he known that.

    Pet scans and Ct scans pick up everything, and there is no way to dx cancer without a biopsy. I hope yours is just inflammation and it will resolve on its own. There are so many things that can be done now and the main thing is if it were to be anything, then it would have been caught very early and the curable stage. I was a stage 1a and a 85% cure rate.

    I wish you well, and keep us posted. Lori

    Please...
    Please give deep thught to what people here have posted. This is exactly the kind of thing that is so great about this site. When we get news like you did from your doc the immediate response is to be frustrated and scared and probably after seeing your sister suffer, you would compare this to what she went through, but like said everyone is different. As in Z's case, the two cancers were really unrelated and both treatable, or as in many other cases not even cancer in the lung at all!! You did so well to be recovered from the Anal Cancer and then give up fighting (I don't like the word fighting, but I guess thats what it sometimes feels like) anyhow, to give up would seem so wrong. I have gone in for test results on one thing only to find something new myself, so know how upsetting it can be, but please do this with me, continue to LIVE ..... I think you have a lot left in you!!! At least gather as much info on diagnoses and treatment first and then make an educated decision on what is best for you. As always, all in my prayers.
  • MyHopen413
    MyHopen413 Member Posts: 38
    #7
    I too had a spot in my lungs
    I too had a spot in my lungs that showed up on the CT scan. When they ran the PET, it didn't show uptake, so the radiologist wasn't sure what it was. I smoked for many years before I got cancer and quit smoking. My cancer had spread to a lymph node in my abdomen. So, I had to do a second round of treatment starting 3 months after my first.
    The treatment was hard. I had chemo treatments every other week for 8 rounds and radiation on my abdomen for 28 treatments. But, I am about six weeks out of treatment and I'm working full time, have made a trip and am back doing most of the things I did before I was diagnosed.
    I am so sorry, truly, about your sister. What a difficult time and now memory that must be for you. But everyone's situation is different and even if you need more treatment, you could end up NED, like I am now. I'm 55 and like I said, it was hard, but by the grace of God I made it.
    Diane
  • shirlann54
    shirlann54 Member Posts: 162
    #8
    Delores
    The same thing just happen to me i was like you devastated .I had my lung biopsy last week Friday they call said NO CANCER . You will be in my prays.
  • sandysp
    sandysp Member Posts: 868 Member
    #9
    SPOTS
    I had a spot on my right lung in my first CT scan. Three cancer specialists at MSK looked at it before determining it was inflammation and not cancer. It is very hard for the best doctors to tell sometimes. At least you know now that a lot of us have had spots and they have not been serious.

    I know what grieving the loss of someone who died so young is like. I did not see why I should have the right to be here when Laura, my daughter died at 20. But we just aren't in control of these things. It is my hardest lesson. Thanks for sharing about your sister. I am sure a lot of us can relate. You however, are not yet at a point to be giving up on your life. There seems to be a reason for you us being here. Did you ever read "The Five People I most want to meet in Heaven?" I think that was the title. Very cool book that moved me very much.

    All the best,
    Sandy
  • z810840b
    z810840b Member Posts: 207 Member
    #10
    shirlann54 said:

    Delores
    The same thing just happen to me i was like you devastated .I had my lung biopsy last week Friday they call said NO CANCER . You will be in my prays.

    no cancer
    So happy to hear shilanne...i havent been on much the last 2 weeks..but YOU made my day!!!!! congratulations!!!!

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