Help maybe lung cancer

shazzie · Regular Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 19

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Hi everyone
my husband had xrays done and it showed a moderate size mass in his right lung and another 10mm lump/nodual it said the were both non-calcified, he has to have scans done but can't get in until the end of the week he had the xrays done nearly a week ago, this waiting is so hard
when the dr first looked at the xray he said it looked like cancer then the next day he said he wasn't sure...
my husband is 48 did smoke up until not so long ago and also has emphysema, i'm just wondering if anyone here knows if this sounds like lung cancer...
he has shotness of breath that he had before because of the emphysema but it has got a lot worse he also has a dry cough and pains in his lungs but no weight loss... do people who have lung cancer usually loose weight in the early stages? the DR said it looks like cancer but my husband would have lost weight and he hasn't thats one of the reasons the dr isn't
sure,
any advice would be greatly welcomed as i'm so worried just not knowing

onecoyote · Senior User Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 150

Hello Shazzie,
I am sorry that you find yourself posting on this site. We all wish that we could meet and chat about a more pleasant topic.
Lung cancer is called the "silent killer' because many times patients do not have any symptoms. Coughing is usually one of the first signs though but that could be attributed to any of the COPD diseases(asthma, emphysema).
Weight loss usually does not happen until the cancer has become advanced or when a patient starts chemotherapy. Cancer tumors produce metabolic substances that shut off appetite, make swallowing difficult and initiate the syndrome called cachexia(muscle wasting). Hypercalcemia also produces these same symptoms but not all cancer patients experience this. Chemotherapy has a host of symptoms that plague patients but everyone is different, some experience few if any problems.
Doctors can many times tell from location, size and smoking history whether something looks suspicious. Ultimately scans and biopsies are required to nail down an exact diagnosis. We have all been where you are now, waiting and hoping. The best advice I can give you is to be your husband's advocate(voice). Learn as much as you can (knowledge is power( I can't say this enough)). Be polite but forceful with your medical team, question anything you don't understand and don't let your husband fall through any cracks in the system. By this I mean if things seem to be taking too long, speak up!
I know I sound a bit on my soap box but my husband is at the end stage of his disease and my emotions are a bit ragged.
I wish you all the best in this journey you are thrown into.
_________________
Husband Danny, age 66,
diagnosed squamous cell June 6, 2008,
Right pneumonectomy performed with no adjuvant chemo or radiation on Sept. 2008
Metastatic lung cancer in the ribs, scapula and right kidney raised it's ugly head May 2009.
Renal cell carcinoma diagnosed May 2009
One round carbo/taxol, too weak to continue
Cancer racing like a freight train
Held my husband's hand when he passed away September 29, 2009

shazzie · Regular Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 19

thank you for your post,
the waiting is the hardest, i've been doing a lot of searching on the net and most of what i read is not good especially the mass being non calcified
the reason i asked about weight loss is because the doctor first said it looked like cancer but then the next day after my husband told the doctor that he has frightened him the doctor then said it probably isn't cancer because my husband had not lost weight...
hopfully we will know more after the scans at the end of the week
sorry to hear about your husband, how do you keep going? it must be so hard
xxx shazzie

dano · Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:28 am Post subject: Re: Help maybe lung cancer

Hi Shazzie;
As weight loss goes I had cancer for years undiagnosed with no weight loss. I am a non-smoker but had a pesky cough, doctors saw something in the x-rays but could not determine what it was but said it was not cancer. Just before I was diagnosed with cancer, two more doctors told me it wasn't cancer, but my cough persisted so they did a biopsy and to every bodies surprise it was cancer. I started loosing weight after that and through the first couple months of treatment, when they changed the treatment to Alimta, I got my appetite back and my weight. Your dad's cancer was a lower stage in order to do the initial surgery, and to me taking out a section of lung is pretty major and must have been real hard on him. I hope from here on that they can use radiation to go after any remaining tumors found. How is your dad doing now?
Dan
_________________
55 year old male, Diagnosed Nov. 9,2007 with NSCLC IV with Mets to the lymphs and brain
Had full brain radiation treatment in Jan 08 treatments now every 4 weeks with Alimta, taking Lovenox for blood clots, Now working full time
http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=9993

onecoyote · Senior User Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 150

Hi Shazzie,
Seriously, if I said I was ok dealing with my husband's eminent death, I would be lying. I cry everyday, for him, for the hopelessness of the situation and selfishly for myself. I have always been a control freak but this cancer has totally thrown me for a loop because I have no control over it. Best I can do is make my husband comfortable, happy, occupied (so he doesn't think about it 24/7) and well fed (this has been the hardest). Funny thing though, my husband has had little appetite but after the doctor told him to "go home and eat cake and ice cream", that has been all that he's been doing...lol.

If the diagnosis comes back as lung cancer, don't panic. There are many options out there and everyone responds differently to them. Look at Dano for instance, he is still going strong after a stage 4 diagnosis. From his posts, it appears as though he has taken a onward and upward kind of attitude and is living his life.

When you find out, come back here and talk to all of us. We have been there, done that and some of us like PBJ and Brainman have a good handle on the medical aspects. Also you can check out the CancerGrace website with Dr. West and associates. They can answer medical questions you have and are good to bounce ideas off of.
Wishing you and your husband the best possible outcome,
Charlene
_________________
Husband Danny, age 66,
diagnosed squamous cell June 6, 2008,
Right pneumonectomy performed with no adjuvant chemo or radiation on Sept. 2008
Metastatic lung cancer in the ribs, scapula and right kidney raised it's ugly head May 2009.
Renal cell carcinoma diagnosed May 2009
One round carbo/taxol, too weak to continue
Cancer racing like a freight train
Held my husband's hand when he passed away September 29, 2009

shazzie · Regular Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 19

hi dano,
you must be a real fighter
thanks for the email, and infomation about the weight loss, i think you got me mixed up with someone else because you mentioned my dad having cancer and a lung op, my dad hasn't got cancer, its my husband who is waiting to find out if he has lung cancer.
xxx shazzie

shazzie · Regular Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 19

Hi Charlene,
it must be so hard for you and your husband, do you get much family support?
i know about being the carer because my husband already has emphysema and some days are really hard, even though i'm use to him being ill just the thought of him having cancer is making me really anxious, emphysema is bad but more of a slow moving illness...
i'm counting down the days until the scan...
i'm also wondering am i doing these replies right? am i suppose to be replying on my thread or somewhere else?
also asking Questions to DR west ect does that cost money or is it free on this site?
xxx shazzie

Hi Shazzie,
Seriously, if I said I was ok dealing with my husband's eminent death, I would be lying. I cry everyday, for him, for the hopelessness of the situation and selfishly for myself. I have always been a control freak but this cancer has totally thrown me for a loop because I have no control over it. Best I can do is make my husband comfortable, happy, occupied (so he doesn't think about it 24/7) and well fed (this has been the hardest). Funny thing though, my husband has had little appetite but after the doctor told him to "go home and eat cake and ice cream", that has been all that he's been doing...lol.

If the diagnosis comes back as lung cancer, don't panic. There are many options out there and everyone responds differently to them. Look at Dano for instance, he is still going strong after a stage 4 diagnosis. From his posts, it appears as though he has taken a onward and upward kind of attitude and is living his life.

When you find out, come back here and talk to all of us. We have been there, done that and some of us like PBJ and Brainman have a good handle on the medical aspects. Also you can check out the CancerGrace website with Dr. West and associates. They can answer medical questions you have and are good to bounce ideas off of.
Wishing you and your husband the best possible outcome,
Charlene

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 2400

Hello Shazzie,

Welcome to our forum. I see you've already been well received by some very caring members.

Dr. West is free. Unreal, huh? All you have to do is register on the forum portion of his site and then you can ask questions. He also has tons of informative articles on a variety of things. He and other professionals give their time to help answer questions from patients and caregivers at the site that Charlene mentioned. He's a God-send. I can remember one Thanksgiving, during my husband's journey, where I had a question pop up and sure enough, he took the time to answer it within a couple of hours. Although his site is free and NOBODY should ever feel obligated to donate, he does accept donations to keep the site going. It is the only site on the internet with lung cancer specialists giving their time freely to people.

The others have given great answers to your questions, so I really have nothing to add other then my prayers and hugs to you. The waiting is a real mind-bender. We ALL can relate to the agony of the wait. Crying or Very sad

Feel free to ask anything you'd like or just come to have a place to unload your worries. That's what we are all about. Keep us posted and lets hope for the best!

God bless,
PBJ
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

gdudak · Contributor Joined: 08 Jun 2009 Posts: 95

To those wishing to respond to Carolyn's post, it has been moved to the lung cancer forum by itself under "mom 86 with lung cancer."

dcomputer · Regular Joined: 18 Jul 2009 Posts: 10 Location: New Jersey

This might be cancer but your best option is a CT scan with contrast and then you will need to test some part of his tissue to confirm the cancer. I had to go through it all last year and by the time they told me then I was ready to jump out the front window of the place.

I honestly think that hospitals do not care and this is really the major suffering we see in cancer treatment. I hope someone out there changes the way we handle cancer diagnosis as well as treatment.

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