Going for CT scan tomorrow.
I was only diagnosed with COPD a little over a week ago. I have been coughing ike crazy for over a year and the mucous slowly built up. I had a very distressing incident a year and a half ago, and thought my fatigue and other symptoms were because what happened had put me into such a depression. As for the coughing, we had just moved from Colorado to Kentucky and I thought i had an allergy to Kentucky allergens. When I checked my O2 level and it was 87 I went to the doctor.
There's other stuff too, but I am now diagnosed. No idea what stage, The meds have already helped with the symptoms.
What is mainly worrying me is that after the doctor read my x-rays she said I need to have a CT scan. Is that standard? I asked her if from the x-rays she suspected lung cancer as well because of the x-ray. She said that she was not a radiologist and she didn't see any definitive growths.
Her name is Mary Music and she lives up to her name. She is sweet, funny and always makes me smile. but when I was questioning her, her demeanor seemed cold, like she was holding back.
COPD is hard, but for reasons I might get into in another post, lung cancer diagnosis will emotionally be a hundred times worse.
I'm really scared.
I know it is difficult to not know, and scanxiety is something so many of us experience when it comes to chronic illnesses and cancer. All I can say is that eventually you will know, and you will deal with whatever it is when and if it comes. I know that's not going to do much, but it may help some. In addition, just know you are not alone and if there's anything we can do to help, let us know. Keep on keepin' on, DPM
Yes, CT Scans for COPD are pretty much standard. After my diagnosis 4 years ago, I was getting scans every 6 months. It was because of nodules in my lungs. All the large ones eventually dissipated on their own. It is when they grow and keep enlarging that you need to be concerned. I am now getting a CT Scan once a year. You should at some point have a PFT test done. This will let you know what stage you are. Your doctor is most likely not giving you specific answers because she is waiting for the test and results before coming to any conclusions on your specific COPD condition. Don't be scared. Be optimistic! A positive attitude brings positive results! Please let us here in the forum updated. Take Care and God Bless!Thank you for your answers. The reason I am so terrified at the possibility of having lung cancer as well. If it's COPD, I know it still sucks but I immediately quit smoking, changed my diet, started exercising [after I started getting steroids and the puffers. I could'nt make it to the bathroom before starting the meds] bought and started using one of those breathing exercisers[ the ball goes up when I slowly inhale but the other side doesn't move at all. hoping to change that.] Anyway, with COPD, I pretty much know to practice breathing and all sorts of things that would be good for me even if I was healthy. With cancer I have to decide too many hard things. Do I let them cut? Do I take radiation? how sick will I be with chemo and would it really make any difference. The chemo itself could kill me, whereas with the COPD I feel less terrifying choices. I'm not sure if I'm making sense because I am crazy upset. Sorry. If I do have cancer, I don't know if I'll stay active here. If no cancer I'm sure I will be here constantly.
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I think you are jumping the gun a bit. Don't count your chickens before they hatch kind of a thing. If your doctor really suspected cancer, you would be getting a PET scan. When I first was diagnosed with COPD, I was in ICU with mycobacterial pneumonia. I was coughing up blood. A lot of blood. So much that the ER doctor was considering a blood transfusion. My doctor (a pulmonologist, a nephrologist, and an internist), who is a resident doctor at the hospital and now my doctor, said he was going to do a bronchoscopy to cauterize the bleeding infected tissue and take a biopsy of a large nodule in my right lung. At no point was I freaked out about possible cancer. The biopsy came back negative and the nodule dissipated. Six months later another nodule even bigger appeared and my doctor said if it did not shrink, he would have to do a lobectomy. Which is removing the lung lobe it was in. Within the next 2 CT Scans (3 months apart) it shrunk and dissipated. My doctor is not a knife happy or procedure happy doctor. He will exhaust every possible solution before doing any kind of surgery. When I had bleeding lungs again two years later, he waited before just doing another bronchoscopy and it turns out it was pneumonia again. The bleeding was caused by the scar tissue becoming inflamed. He treated it with intravenous steroids and antibiotics. No procedure necessary. My point being that jumping the gun and worrying yourself to the point of making things worse is not good. Worrying does not change a thing except making yourself more miserable. It is not easy to not worry, but hopefully you can get more encouraging news from your CT Scan. Your breathing exercises and changes to diet and quitting smoking do not immediately make differences. It takes time to make a difference. Please get some help to deal with your worries. Creating extra stress causes a whole new set of physical problems. Which you certainly don't need. I will keep you in my prayers and thoughts. Please let the forum know how your scan turns out and do your best to relax. I know it is easier said than done. Hopefully talking bout it here has helped somewhat. Take care and God Bless!
Similarly to Dminor9, I also develop nodules in my lungs. They grow, stop, and then disappear by the time the next CT scan is due. This has happened so often now, that they moved my CT to annual instead of 4X per year.
Keep the faith, even if things get worse.
