Mom has lung nodule - so scared!

[ta333]

Hi everyone,

My mother went into the hospital last week with chest pain. She was checked for an aortic dissection, & had a CT & Chest X-Ray. Ultimately she was admitted for a few days, & the pain ended up being a gastro issue.

The chest x-ray & the CT showed atelectasis in the right lung, as well as a small nodule. The first doctor she saw thought it was pneumonia. The second one said it was benign. The third & fourth didn't want to say and just told her to see her oncologist in a few weeks (for an already scheduled appt.) and have a PET scan. She doesn't have any symptoms of cancer, & has normal blood results. She had LCIS in her breast (stage 0) twice in the last 20 years. She smoked for twenty years, but hasn't for the last thirty years. She had a clear chest x-ray two years ago.

I'm so devastated. We really didn't see this coming. We've both had a bunch of health issues in the last few years (including myself getting diagnosed with a benign liver nodule last year) & I thought we finally were ok. I've read that they would've been able to tell if it was benign through the CT, so the fact that they didn't want to tell us anything doesn't bode well in my mind. I'm just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience & had it turn out all right? Thank you!

[Fishmanpa]

I have a nodule in my left lung. It's benign and been there for who knows how long.

Positive thoughts

[AMomentofClarity]

I’ve got 2 nodules in my left lung. They’re benign.

[lofwyr]

I have 2 nodules in my upper right lung. Small nodules are very common, and for nodules under 5mm, the rate of malignancy is less than 1%. They can be caused by infections, illness, debris breathed into the lung. 50% of all smokers have benign lung nodules, and chest X-rays do not reliably show them, so the clear X-ray from before might not be an indicator it was not there.

Many, many people have them. Most just never have reason to have a CT of the chest, so they never even know.

[swajj]

I have one as well. It was picked up on an X-ray for something else about 15 or more years ago. It could have been there for years before that. I saw a lung specialist and he said it was insignificant.

[ta333]

I have a nodule in my left lung. It's benign and been there for who knows how long.

Positive thoughts


I’ve got 2 nodules in my left lung. They’re benign.


I have one as well. It was picked up on an X-ray for something else about 15 or more years ago. It could have been there for years before that. I saw a lung specialist and he said it was insignificant.


I have 2 nodules in my upper right lung. Small nodules are very common, and for nodules under 5mm, the rate of malignancy is less than 1%. They can be caused by infections, illness, debris breathed into the lung. 50% of all smokers have benign lung nodules, and chest X-rays do not reliably show them, so the clear X-ray from before might not be an indicator it was not there.

Many, many people have them. Most just never have reason to have a CT of the chest, so they never even know.

Thanks to all of you for replying. Hopefully my mom will have a similar outcome.

[sarahxxx]

i have this did everyone get a pet scan

[sarahxxx]

hope your mums ok

[jojo2316]

I have three lung nodules. They rescanned them after 12 months and then decided they were benign. The vast majority of them are benign...

[Sparky16]

I have a friend who has one. They don't necessarily do PET scans, depending on the appearance. In my friend's case, she had rescans by CT every six months for two years. The nodule remained unchanged, so they said it was benign and she doesnt need anymore scans.

[sarahxxx]

fishmanpa can you tell me what tests you had plz

[ta333]

i have this did everyone get a pet scan

She's doing great thanks. She got a ct every 3 mos for a year and a half and was just recently told that she didn't need any more testing. She had a pet scan a few months ago, and one of the spots lit up, but the doctor said that that can be benign & luckily it seems it was.

Don't worry about the pet scan, it itself didn't give her any issues & a lot of people have benign results. If you have any questions, you can pm me. Good luck with everything.