Lung thingys

[crazylife]

My husbands lung things have literally been playing hide and seek since diagnosis. They show up on one scan, but not the next, then show up again. It is literally sending me over the edge. Yesterday's scan showed 3 spots but 2 were already there so it's a watch and wait game. Ugh.

[teri3]

Scans are rough enough without hide and seek lung thingys. I have noticed that on my scans to that things seem to come and go. I'm hoping it means the ones playing games aren't the real ones and just little infections. Hope that's what it is for your husband.

Teri

[stu]

They sure do. They seem to be able to pick them up from 2mm . I was prepared for one they were watching with my mum when infact it had brought a friend . Two little 2mm that are staying the same size and not classed as mets . They have both stayed that way for six months where her met kept growing. When she first started scanning things had to be over 5mm before they were detectable. But the machines got better.
Hope he is ok.
Kind regards
Stu

[crazylife]

So I am guessing this wait and see is pretty normal? I was I kinda want them to determine what's happening and go after it now.

[Redtexa5]

I am afraid it is not unusual to have the hide and seek lung thingy. I have been having this experience for eight years now. Yes, it is no fun at all, and NO it does not get any easier as time goes by. However, there is just not much to do about it. I don't know if this will help or not, but now that I am seven years NED, my Onc just does a chest x-ray every year to keep an eye on things. You have to keep in mind that phrase in the Hippocratic oath that says "Do no harm" they are not going to treat something that they don't know is anything in need of treatment. Medicine is far from an exact science and historically the medical profession has found that they kill more people than help when they are not as sure as they can be about their diagnosis and oncologists, in my opinion, are very conservative as far as treatments go. We all want answers during treatment that go like this: situation A needs treatment C = Cancer Cured, but that is unfortunately not how it works. It is more like, well it might be situation A-K or W-Z so should we use treatments J-P=Hope that Helps.

Yes dealing with cancer really does suck, but we are winning a lot more than we were so it is certainly not hopeless.

Take care

[crazylife]

[quote="Redtexa5"]I am afraid it is not unusual to have the hide and seek lung thingy. I have been having this experience for eight years now. Yes, it is no fun at all, and NO it does not get any easier as time goes by. However, there is just not much to do about it. I don't know if this will help or not, but now that I am seven years NED, my Onc just does a chest x-ray every year to keep an eye on things. You have to keep in mind that phrase in the Hippocratic oath that says "Do no harm" they are not going to treat something that they don't know is anything in need of treatment. Medicine is far from an exact science and historically the medical profession has found that they kill more people than help when they are not as sure as they can be about their diagnosis and oncologists, in my opinion, are very conservative as far as treatments go. We all want answers during treatment that go like this: situation A needs treatment C = Cancer Cured, but that is unfortunately not how it works. It is more like, well it might be situation A-K or W-Z so should we use treatments J-P=Hope that Helps.

Yes dealing with cancer really does suck, but we are winning a lot more than we were so it is certainly not hopeless.

Take care[/quote

Can't even tell you how helpful your response was! Thank you!! 16 month in we are still newbies at this, so need to just accept the new normal of the cancer rollercoaster ride. So glad for you to be NED! Congrats!!

[Redtexa5]

Glad I could help, but I have never "accepted" the rollercoaster ride just gotten used to it to the point that the loops, twirls, and sudden drops don't make me throw up every time I go through them. Also, every year waiting for my test results is rough. To the point that I just tell the people in my life what is happening and they just deal with the escape of my inner A$$$hole. Not very pretty I am afraid, but they keep forgiving me.

You all can get through it, I promise.