CT Scans, Lungs and is it only a cold

ldot123
ldot123 Member Posts: 272
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hello Semi-Colons,

Hope everyone is doing great.

I am once again going into a funk about an up and coming CT Scan. The last one I had showed a teeny 2 mm mark on my right lung that they were not sure about. I also had a large mark but it was determined to be I think calcification caused by radiation I had years ago for Hodgkins. The oncologist said he was not worried and thought it was probably more of the same and just wants to check if it has grown over a 3 month period.

Well I go in a couple of weeks and it seems I have had a minor cold for the last month that does not quite blossom into a full fledged feeling of being really sick. Now that I am starting to cough more, I start ruminating that there is something going on in my lungs. It drives me batty. I know a lot of people I know have had an ongoing cold throughout the winter that they can't shake but nevertheless I still worry. I never did have any mets on the liver and my surgeon said that there would be a less than 10% chance of mets bypassing the liver to the lungs.

I think someone told me that you do not necessarily have symptoms with lung mets. Just wondering what other's experiences have been. Did they have any symptoms like coughs or tightness in the chest that turned out to be related to lungs mets?

Oh yeah, I have developed tinnitus over the last year or so and apprently have hearing loss in my left ear so I am going for an MRI. ear doc said it would not be cancer related, but just another things to go through.

Sorry if I am venting here, I know a lot of you are facing greater challenges than me, but it feels good just to write this.

Wishing you all well and thanks for your support.

Lance

Comments

  • CherylHutch
    CherylHutch Member Posts: 1,375 Member
    #2
    Winter Cold
    Hey Lance,

    I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as the coughing/cold symptoms go. I have heard the same thing... by the time you have symptoms in your lungs, the mets are usually quite large (IE: 50mm or more). So if you have a 2mm lesion and even if it's grown to say 5mm in the last couple of months, you aren't going to have any symptoms caused by it. I think, just the stress and worry of being told there's possibly something there, is enough to make any cough or sniffle feel huge... and is it any wonder we freak out? We've been through hell and back... so every little thing is going to cause us to ponder.

    That's interesting about what your surgeon said... that only about a 10% chance that the cancer would bypass the liver and go to the lungs. I definitely have heard, even here on these boards, of more people talking about liver resections and treatments than lung ones... although there have been those with both. Me, as of our last scans, I have no signs of anything in the liver (yayayaya) but yet, they found 7 small lesions in my lungs (and of course a large growth in my right adrenal gland which totally does not follow the normal pattern of CC mets). So does that mean I am one of the lucky 10%... or maybe, with a little luck, it might be true that only 2 of the 7 mets are cancer and we will just deal with them :)

    I get my next lung CAT scan on March 27th as a follow up for the RFA I had done in January. That CAT scan will be able to tell if there are more mets, or if the ones I have have grown or not. I'm not nervous about the CAT scan... but I am a little nervous of the follow up meeting with the radiologist after the CAT scan.

    Hugggggs,

    Cheryl
  • ldot123
    ldot123 Member Posts: 272
    #3
    CherylHutch said:

    Winter Cold
    Hey Lance,

    I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as the coughing/cold symptoms go. I have heard the same thing... by the time you have symptoms in your lungs, the mets are usually quite large (IE: 50mm or more). So if you have a 2mm lesion and even if it's grown to say 5mm in the last couple of months, you aren't going to have any symptoms caused by it. I think, just the stress and worry of being told there's possibly something there, is enough to make any cough or sniffle feel huge... and is it any wonder we freak out? We've been through hell and back... so every little thing is going to cause us to ponder.

    That's interesting about what your surgeon said... that only about a 10% chance that the cancer would bypass the liver and go to the lungs. I definitely have heard, even here on these boards, of more people talking about liver resections and treatments than lung ones... although there have been those with both. Me, as of our last scans, I have no signs of anything in the liver (yayayaya) but yet, they found 7 small lesions in my lungs (and of course a large growth in my right adrenal gland which totally does not follow the normal pattern of CC mets). So does that mean I am one of the lucky 10%... or maybe, with a little luck, it might be true that only 2 of the 7 mets are cancer and we will just deal with them :)

    I get my next lung CAT scan on March 27th as a follow up for the RFA I had done in January. That CAT scan will be able to tell if there are more mets, or if the ones I have have grown or not. I'm not nervous about the CAT scan... but I am a little nervous of the follow up meeting with the radiologist after the CAT scan.

    Hugggggs,

    Cheryl

    Yoy are great Cheryl
    Thanks for the pep talk. I always enjoy your posts and the replies you have to folks in our village. Your upbeat attitude is GREAT!! My next CT scan is on the 19th of March with a follow up with the onc the following week. I will be letting everyone know how it works out.

    Cheers from the TDot,
    Lance
  • lisa42
    lisa42 Member Posts: 3,625 Member
    #4
    no lung symptoms
    Hi Lance,

    Just to let you know, when I had (and have again) lung mets, I've had no lung symptoms whatsoever. That may be related to the size of what's in there- mine were all a centimeter or less. Let's just pray that your symptoms are just related to that nasty cold hanging on- I will pray for that for you. Best wishes on your upcoming scan (mine isn't scheduled yet, but I should be having one myself around that time or a few days after).

    Take care,
    Lisa
  • ldot123
    ldot123 Member Posts: 272
    #5
    lisa42 said:

    no lung symptoms
    Hi Lance,

    Just to let you know, when I had (and have again) lung mets, I've had no lung symptoms whatsoever. That may be related to the size of what's in there- mine were all a centimeter or less. Let's just pray that your symptoms are just related to that nasty cold hanging on- I will pray for that for you. Best wishes on your upcoming scan (mine isn't scheduled yet, but I should be having one myself around that time or a few days after).

    Take care,
    Lisa

    Thanks Lisa
    I appreciate the information. It does make me feel better. Best of luck on the new scans and I will be praying for you too and everyone afflicted with this.

    Lance

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