Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Please feel free to read, share your thoughts, your stories and connect with others!
Deep
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:10 pm

Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby Deep » Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:01 pm

So, last Friday, I got a call from one of the Doctors, I believe it was the same Doctor who did my clonoscopy. He told me over the phone that the CT scan I had earlier that day did not show signs of metastastic disease and that the cancer was only seen in my rectum and a few possible lymph nodes. Today, I am reading over my electronic medical folder and it says something about seeing 3 Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules. I cannot find any definitive answers as to what that means as far as my staging goes. Does this mean I have spread to my lungs? Or, am I getting worked up over nothing? I have two days to go before I get answers with an appointment with my surgeon and the wait is killing me.
11/29/18 Diagnosed T3N1 Rectal Cancer (Age 39, Male, no family history)
01/02/19--02/7/19--- 25 rounds radiation/chemo (Capecitabine 2000 mg)
04/15/19 Surgery, temp ileostomy (Tumor Staged T2)
7/8/19-10/15/19 Chemo (8 Rounds) Folfox
11/12/19- Scan NED

hiker
Posts: 139
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:15 am

Re: Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby hiker » Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:35 pm

Hey Deep,

Unfortunately those reports are written in a way that most people, including myself, have no clue what they mean. I depend on my oncologist to interpret for me and she's darn good at it.

Pulmonary nodules could be nothing and they could be cancer. I've had things show up that turned out to be pockets of fluid and I've also had things show up that would have taken me out faster than cancer.

There's no point reading and re-reading the report, searching online, or taking anyone's opinion as fact. You'll just have to wait till you meet with your doctor. Sorry.

hiker
Colonoscopy 2/17, 5cm tumor descending
Diagnosed stage iv, liver mets 3/17
Colon resection 3/17
Told surgery not an option, get my affairs in order
Meet w/MSK team 5/01/17
Folfox(3rds) 5/17-6/17
Liver resection/implant HAI pump 7/17
HAI pump chemo(5rds) 8/17-2/18
Folfiri+Vectibix(11rds) 8/17-2/18
Spot on chest CT 10/17
Lung biopsy (that was fun) 11/17
Nocardia bacterial infection w/spread to brain (this is serious) 11/17
IV antibiotics 12/17-2/18
Oral antibiotics 3/18-12/18
Clear of cancer since surgery

Wintheday#1
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:05 am

Re: Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby Wintheday#1 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:56 pm

I just had a Ct scan to see if lung nodules had changed in size. Originally diagnosed with stage 3c rectal cancer the beginning of Sept. Report came back with a few tiny lung nodules. Did the 28 days of chemoradiation then started 3 treatments of xeloda/Oxaliplatin off which I have done 2 of the 3. Oncologist did not think the nodules were cancer but did the CT scan to be sure. Nodules had neither disappeared or grew so he is confident that it is old scar tissue from an old infection. Still too much inflammation to tell if tumor has reduced but can only see 2 out of the original 5 rectal nodes that looked cancerous and those have reduced by about 40%. Surgery is planned for January 17th and an MRI will be done prior to surgery so surgeon has a better idea of what he is dealing with. I know it's hard not to worry about the nodules but I have been told about half of people show they have them on a Ct scan. They will follow them for quite some time just to be sure.

del
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2016 11:21 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby del » Wed Dec 12, 2018 10:21 pm

At the end of the report there will be a summary of findings. That's the part you should be reading. The body of the report will note every little incidental finding that the radiologist comes across which can sound scary (they found a liver nodule in my first CT, which turned out to be a harmless cyst), but the summary of findings is the most important part. Certainly ask your surgeon about it, but try not to worry too much for now and trust in your doctors as they are the ones who know how to interpret these reports.
Male, 33 @ dx, stage 1 RC (T1N0M0 mod. diff. 0/29 LNs)
2016-02 - Cancerous polyp removed during colonscopy, 0.5 mm margin
2016-03 - ULAR & TME surgery, temp ileostomy
2016-04 - DVT, pulmonary embolism
2016-11 - Ileostomy reversal
2018-10 - Another DVT & PE
2021 - 5 years of clean scopes/scans/bloods

Nordy1
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2018 11:45 pm

Re: Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby Nordy1 » Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:57 am

Hi there

I understand the worry. I don’t want to hijack your post but concerned about similar issues. My indeterminate nodes all disappeared from my lungs and liver and shrunk on my kidney-after 11 rounds of chemo- but nobody is clearly saying that they were cancer that has responded. I’m happy they are gone but I’m very concerned they were Mets. Which would put me in stage 4

I know the answers will never be black and white on this rollercoaster ride, but I really want them to be :(

Take care of yourself and breath deep,
Nordy1
jan 2018 emergency room via ambulance rectal bleeding event
dx Feb 2018 sigmoid adenocarcinoma 2.5 cm, 3 small extranodal foci resected march 2018
stage 3A T1 n1c
multiple indeterminent nodes in liver, lungs and kidney
11 rounds folfox with oxyplatin stopped with full nephropathy of hands and feet
currently waiting next scan in Feb. 2019

mpbser
Posts: 953
Joined: Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:52 am

Re: Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby mpbser » Wed Jan 02, 2019 6:12 pm

My husband and I have recently gone through a similar concern as he had nodules detected last spring and had a follow up in November to see if they changed in size. They hadn't so we feel very good about it. Here are some helpful pieces of information we got along the way: the vast majority of the time, these "nodules" are benign at a great rate of like 90%, and the best method of detection for any abnormalities in the chest is a Chest CT. Hope this helps!
Wife 4/17 Dx age 45
5/17 LAR
Adenocarcinoma
low grade
1st primary T3 N2b M1a
Stage IVA
8/17 Sub-total colectomy
2nd primary 5.5 cm T1 N0
9 of 96 nodes
CEA: < 2.9
MSS
Lynch no; KRAS wild
Immunohistochemsistry Normal
Fall 2017 FOLFOX shrank the 1 met in liver
1/18 Liver left hepatectomy seg 4
5/18 CT clear
12/18 MRI 1 liver met
3/7/19 Resection & HAI
4/1/19 Folfiri & FUDR
5/13/19 HAI pump catheter dislodge, nearly bled to death
6-7 '19 5FU 4 cycles
NED

Punky44
Posts: 498
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2018 4:29 pm

Re: Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby Punky44 » Wed Jan 02, 2019 7:57 pm

My mom also had one small lung nodule they were watching from the beginning and at her last scan, while the rest of the cancer shrunk by 40% the nodule didn’t change. They said it was likely not nor ever had been cancerous.
Caregiver to my amazing mom (68 at dx)
10/1/18 DX with rectal cancer; CEA 17
T3N2M0
Total neoadjuvant therapy:
8 rounds Folfox 11/5/18 - 2/11/19
Short course radiation 3/14/19 - 3/20/19
Robotically assisted laparoscopic LAR 3/21/19
Pathology report says yT2N0M0 with 0/38 nodes
6/28/19 Reversal and port out
CEA 2.1; 1.9; 2.6; 2.8; 2.3; 2.4; 3.0; 3.4; 3.1; 3.4; 3.0; 3.1; 2.6
Latest update: 8/21/23 Clear CT with CEA 2.6!

Me: 34, first colonoscopy 11/16/18—normal! Come back in 5 years.

User avatar
JJH
Posts: 408
Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:26 am

Re: Question About Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules And Staging

Postby JJH » Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:16 pm

Deep wrote: Today, I am reading over my electronic medical folder and it says something about seeing 3 Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodules. I cannot find any definitive answers as to what that means as far as my staging goes. Does this mean I have spread to my lungs? Or, am I getting worked up over nothing? I have two days to go before I get answers with an appointment with my surgeon and the wait is killing me.

I think you just have to wait. It could be something benign like atelectasis scar tissue on three alveoli
Cicatricial: This type of atelectasis is when the tissue that makes up your lungs has scars that keep them from being able to hold as much air as they should

This is what I had, as diagosed by a pulmonologist reading my scan
"The darkest hour is just before the dawn" - Thomas Fuller (1650)
●●●


Return to “Colon Talk - Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 118 guests

cron