Convinced i have lung cancer

[gwood80]

I'm absolutely terrified I have lung cancer.

I am 38 years old and was a smoker for around 14 years till about 3 years ago. About a fortnight ago I coughed up a little blood (pinprick) and thought nothing of it. In the meantime my dad went in for a chest x ray so I was v concerned about that. Last wed I coughed up another bit of blood (literally a pinprick) so got a doctors appointment for that day. She sent me for a chest x ray and I came home that night to a message on my answering machine telling me to contact the doctor. The surgery was closed by this time so as you can imagine this was a very anxious 12 hours till the morning.

When I phoned in the receptionist told me my x ray was abnormal, the doctor wanted to see me but that it wasn't anything sinister and not cancer.

I went to see her that morning and she explained I had shading around the outside and top of my lungs, and she also mentioned nodules. The radiographer's report suggested vasculitis, pneumonia or it could be something else.

Since then I've obviously been all over Google, and have had the results of blood tests today. I don't know the specifics but when I phoned up for them the doc had left the message that everything was OK.

I'm worried for a few reasons: most days I still cough up the same small amount of blood (I don't actually have a cough though). Also, I would have thought that something would have shown up on my bloods to reflect what the radiographer suggested. My chest and back is definitely tighter/sorer than it was this time last week.

I have an referral with a respiratory consultant I am waiting for. This is serious impacting on my family life as I have two young children I am unable to give my full attention to.

Feels good to get this out

[tmckenzie-orr]

I can imagine it must be absolutely scary as hell, there is a number off things it can be other than lung cancer, So dont worry to much and stay off google as all that will show u is lung cancer and nothing else, So stay off it just have to wait to find out what it is once they do further examinations, But you have to think of the positives like your age for 1 major factor, So keep ur chin up and please update us how it goes

[emmalj0]

My dads had bad cough before coughed up loads of blood. He had nodules on lungs further chest xray six months later nodules gone so dont worry

[gwood80]

Thanks guys.

Have a phone app with the doc tomorrow morning so going to ask why she wasn't concerned about nodules and try to get little more detail about the bloods.

Seems a bit silly to worry about her saying the bloods are OK but I guess that's anxiety for you

[tmckenzie-orr]

yes for sure, Anxiety is crazy, anything abnormal and shouldnt be there makes us panic im sure all is ok dude you would have a high count etc, keep us updated and if u need a chat just message away

[gwood80]

Spoke to doc this morning. She said the wording from radiologist was not that there were nodules but the shading was nodular in shape, which was a relief. Bloods being normal has more or less ruled out pneumonia but vasculitis still a possibility. Have a 5 week wait now to see a consultant which is going to be torture, especially considering every ache and pain I would previously barely have noticed is now being attributed as a further symptom by my overworked mind

[tmckenzie-orr]

At least it's good news buddy, just try not to think to much into it and the 5 weeks will fly by

[AlexandriaUK]

I think you will find that chest xray is the starting point for lung cancer and they told my friend/mum/father in law straight off then they had ct scans next day.
Your spots could be from throat, have you had a cold recently.
Like everyone on here knows we expand every little thing to as bad as it can be, it's our nature sadly

[gwood80]

Just to update, have coughed up a spot of blood a couple more times, but by persevering (and pestering) the clinic I have managed to get a cancellation appointment for this Tuesday. Have managed to keep my mind off it mostly, but with the app approaching I'm getting a little anxious again.

Will post back after appointment on Tuesday to report how it goes. I know how useful it can be to find stories like you are experiencing yourself on the internet.

[gwood80]

Well consultant appointment went OK. Full examination, an hour of questions re my history etc but she still has no real idea what is wrong. I think she suspects that I have had some kind of allergic reaction, so another batch of bloods are being run and I'm booked in for a ct scan on Wed.

This is now making me quite anxious for a couple of reasons: it's up to a six week wait for a ct scan normally yet I'm getting one in 8 days, which makes me worried there's something she's not telling me. My GF is pretty adamant that if the doc suspected anything v sinister she'd have told me, and in my less anxious moments I accept that. Secondly, that a ct scan might turn up something horrible that she's not looking for.

Anyway, it's been 8 days since I last coughed blood and I'm feeling a little less wheezy at night.

Fingers crossed I guess

[gwood80]

Ct scan tomorrow. Getting anxious again although was back at work today after a long holiday which took mind off things a bit. Haven't coughed blood for a fortnight so a bit happier in that respect. Still a little wheezy at times though.

Have found out the doc is doing an abdominal and thorax scan. Slightly concerned about why she is looking at the abdomen too - any ideas?

[gwood80]

Thought I'd post an update:

Had an app with consultant yesterday to discuss results. In her words: "I've never seen anything like this in 33 years of being a pulmonary consultant" - my CT scan shows patchy shading as it moves towards the top of the lungs, which would indicate inflammation or swelling, and my nodes in my chest are very slightly swollen.

Every single blood and lung function test that has been run (and she's done them all) is completely normal, so she says she can't rule out anything at all, from slight inflammation to malignancy. The only way she is going to be able to give me a diagnosis (and therefore treatment) is a lung biopsy, so now I have the anxious wait for that to happen.

I go through peaks and troughs of feeling fine and feeling extremely anxious about this whole affair. I have coughed up blood again (more than before) once more on Sunday night, but apart from that I have absolutely no symptoms at all.

So it's a waiting game again.