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k9fan2
New User
Joined: 13 Feb 2006
Posts: 5
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 Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:57 pm Post subject: Terrified |
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My husband had a CT scan last week and today they told us he has a mass on his lung. They said it is right at the outside of the lung and has gotten into a rib.
He just started with a cough around Christmas and pain in his back the last couple of weeks. Other than that he hasnt had any symptoms. The CT report said it is likely a large cell cancer - Bronchogenic CA. It also said the lymph nodes and the mediastinum (sp) appeared to be free of the disease. It said the cancer is growing fast.
My husband is 66 yrs old and in general good health. His EKG was normal and he had a stress test last year that was perfect. He also had a chest xray last June which was normal.
Theyve set him up for PFS and a CT scan guided biopsy this week. I know it is normal to be frightened. Both docs said it is very early to catch it and that he was "lucky." I've been to the American Cancer Society site and several others.
Does anyone know anything hopeful about long term survival rates? Other web sites painted a pretty dismal picture. Please tell me how I can best support him? |
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brainman
Chief Admin
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 4434
Location: Tennessee
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rlee
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 245
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: Terrified |
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Staging is everything in cancer, and your husband is undergoing staging and diagnosis now. Wait for the workup to be completed and then ask your medical team what type of lung cancer it is as well as the stage. Early stage lung cancer can be cured with reasonable long term survival. Until the specifics of the type and stage are completed, it is difficult to be more precise.
RLee, MD
_________________
RLee, MD
Any information provided is NOT intended to provide specific medical advice to users but rather to provide users with information to help them better understand their health condition and related care. All readers are strongly encouraged to consult with a qualified physician for answers to their personal medical questions. |
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k9fan2
New User
Joined: 13 Feb 2006
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:53 am Post subject: More knowledge but still terrified |
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We got into a cancer center near our home. The cancer has been diagnosed as Spindle Cell which I know isn't great. However the surgeon looked at the CT films and does not think the ribs are involved and further believes the cancer is still confined to the lung.
He has scheduled my husband for surgery (Lobectomy/ Poss Pneumonectomy) on Wednesday although that could change based on the results of his PET scan Tuesday. The surgeon said this was better than "lung cancer" - I don't quite understand that.
Anyway we will see what this week brings. |
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k9fan2
New User
Joined: 13 Feb 2006
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:28 am Post subject: Post surgery update |
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My husband finally had surgery. His PET scan showed a tiny spot on the sternum. He was scheduled for surgery on 2/22 and his doctor did not think the spot was a malignancy. The doctor did a biopsy first and that spot was malignant. It was so small none of the doctors noticed it on the CT scan until it showed up on the PET scan. The doctor had to take it all out to get enough material for the biopsy.
The doctor presented my husband's case to the "tumor board" and they recommended he go ahead and do the lobectomy to remove the large tumor in my husband's rt lung.
After the surgery, the doctor told us that he was able to save appox 2/3 of the rt lung. He left all of the middle lobe, took most of the lower lobe and a small part of the upper lobe.
The tumor had also "encroached" on two ribs and was close to the spine. As I understood the explanation it was moving or eating these two ribs. So the doctor "scraped" off part of the rib bones to protect them and he removed the out covering of the spine as a precaution.
They tell us they have removed all cancer they could see and/or that showed up on the PET scan. All other organs, bones and lymph nodes were free of metastasis. My husband is going to get both radiation and chemo to "mop up" any microscopic cells left in the chest and/or in the bloodstream.
Is my husband considered Stage IV? I asked this of the doctor right after the surgery and he sort of mumbled something I didnt understand. However after reading all the info on the different stages, it seems to me as if he wouldn't be STage IV.
Does anyone know? Also does removing all of the cancer give him a better prognosis than most Stage IV patients or should I be prepared for him to die within the next year?
I just want to know what the odds are and I don't want to ask in front of my husband because he hasnt asked yet. Does anyone know what I should expect? Similar diagnosis? |
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