Hi, sorry this ia long one! I had a CT scan as part of the Lung Screening Programme just before Christmas.The nurse phoned to tell me my lungs are normal but I have a 14mm area on my liver that needs investigating.
5 days later I had an ultrasound which the scanner said showed what looked like a hemangioma (similar to a strawberry birthmark) which is nothing to worry about. Because I have a history of skin cancer (BCC's) and a mild bleeding disorder I have also just had an MRI, results pending.
I'm very impressed with the speed of all the tests BUT ...... I then receive a letter from the Lung Screening Programme stating I don't have lung cancer and then saying I have smoking related lung damage, Emphysema (COPD).
This is a huge shock as the nurse said my CT was normal.
I was diagnosed with asthma 18 years ago. Around 5 years ago my asthma changed after a particularly nasty chest infection/bronchitis and became cough variant with lots of phlegm. Eventually changing inhalers got on top if it, I'm now on Fostair 200/6 and Montelukast. I thought my asthma was under control and I only ever get symptoms if I have a viral infection, I exercise 5/6 times a week and am very active.
I am phoning the nurse at the Screening program today to talk about this and will send an e-consult to the GP as I obviously want to discuss further testing.
I have to say I am feeling pretty knocked for six as I thought I was quite healthy for a 61 year old.
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Maya_227
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Don't let the diagnosis get you down. You sound a pretty healthy lady to me .Keep doing what you're doing- all that exercise- and the Copd will progress really slowly. If you are still smoking it will help no end to give it up. Good luck.
I must be the odd one out round here. I was really happy to get a proper diagnosis. I knew there was something wrong. Now it had a name. It seemed a good way of saying 'told you so' to my useless surgery.😄😁😁
When I got diagnosed with blood clots in the lungs it was a relief to have been diagnosed with that rather than getting told I had cancer and there was nothing they could do for me!
I had a useless surgery when I lived at the other place and there was a woman doctor there who I didn't like as she was a bully and they aren't there to bully they are there to help those who are poorly!
The last straw with them was when they refused to issue a prescription and the pharmacist had rung them and demanded they give me it and they backed down and did so I got the prescription off them and changed surgeries and my current one can't do enough for you!
Thankfully when I moved up here I didn't need to change surgeries as their main surgery is up here in the district centre and the one down the hill near the old place is a branch surgery so I can go to either of them and I get along well with the surgery staff so I had no need to move surgeries. I called into see them and told them I had moved and gave them my new address and they were fine and said they were happy for me to stay with them!
Moving up here means I can put that crap surgery in the past where it belongs!
When I first went there they were great when it was run by the husband and wife team and when they retired and also the really nice lady doctor who I got along well with the place went to rack and ruin!
At the surgery I am in now there is a great male GP who puts you at ease who I get along well with and there's a lady doctor there who is very nice as well and the nurses are nice.
The woman registrar doctor there I didn't like so I wont be seeing her again as I didn't like her manner!
Maybe "Normal" meant no cancer. I have cancer and nodes on my lung. but they started at 6mm and have not grown,
I have smoking related ,I have smoking related lung damage, Emphysema (COPD)., andso do lots of others on here - If you are ust diagnosed, that's good as , Emphysema , progresses slow, in particular if you have stopped smoking,
You are right to see your GP and find out how your COPD is toput your mind at rest I have had my Emphysema for over 25 years, I have Fostair and Atrovent and have found both good. blue one I don't use mutch..
Last year I reported to my GP increasing bouts of breathlessness and tiredness. Blood tests were done looking for heart failure ( I already have a cardiac condition, a heart arrythmia, al beit, highly controlled) but all was well. I was then referred for Lung Function Tests which produced the verdict/diagnosis of Asthma COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS).
At this stage I have been prescribed a Reliever Inhaler ( Easyhale with Sulbutamol ) - the Blue Inhaler - and to get much more exercise, small walks to start with, then working up more and more. ( Thank goodness its coming up to the end of winter here in UK ). I am doing as I'm told. I'm aiming for 4 or 5 walks a week at the moment - falling a bit short of this I have to say.
What I find is sooooo difficult to understand, to cope with, to deal with is the speed with which one day I can be superman leading a quite normal life (for an 80 y/old) and the next, without warning without symptoms, I can feel as if I've walked out of a train wreck and I'm good for nothing.
The other thing is although I stopped smoking in 1985 - age 41 - I never get chest infections - never. Weird. Anyway so far, Blue Inhaler is working. 🤞🫰
Hey BenHallYou should look into getting an electric walking pad for at home. They are around £60 but worth it when the weather is bad. Sounds like your doing really well with your condition. I'm just getting over the flu, I'm still quite breathless sometimes overly. The GP will be sending me for a chest Xray and blood test, probably the heart failure test. I have COPD and Asthma. I now need to get on track with pulmonary rehabilitation so looking forward to that. Don't be too hard on yourself when your falling short with the walking, your doing great. 👏
Hello lovely,I was the same. I had a chest xray & scans done & was told nothing abnormal. My heart was checked, nothing abnormal. I was still a bit wheezy so they did allergy tests & spirometry to be safe and boom, out of nowhere, I have COPD. I've never been one to catch any illnesses going around. I didn't even have COVID until 4 months ago. I smoked for about 4 years, only around 10 a week and gave up 35 years ago when we started a family. So to say I was amazed, was an understatement. It is a big shock because Copd, is of course, incurable. But that doesn't mean it's not manageable. My Mum was diagnosed at 53, she's 80 this year and still managing her copd. Don't let your diagnosis stop you living.
After I got diagnosed with blood clots in my lungs back in 2017 I had an appointment with the nurse at the surgery and had asked her about what was safe to do and was it safe to go on holidays and she said yes it was and how I still had to live my life!
Back in the May of 2019 I had gone for an interview for a reception job at a and e and I got shouted at by my mother for having done that and I wasn't having it and I shouted back and said it was my life and I was doing what I wanted and I wasn't changing my mind just because she shouted at me and I never did either and said no way was I living my life wrapped up in cotton wool and how blood clots don't discriminate according to things you do or don't do and I was doing what I wanted and that was that and that I did!
OK perhaps that job at a and e wasn't what was right for me but it was my life and up to me to make my own decisions even if they are irrational!
To punish me for doing that I have been receiving the silent treatment for nearly 6 years which is pathetic but by accident it's a favour as I don't have to listen to that crud!
My friend, who is 59, had the same test. She gave up smoking over 20 years ago and had some intensive investigations done on her chest, over 20 years ago, as they discovered a non cancerous growth on her lung, which was operated on 20 years ago.
She was also told she had emphysema when she recently had this test done, which was a bit odd as it had never been detected before. However, after a spirometer test, there really was not too much to worry about.
Don't be too downhearted Maya, it sounds as though the lung damage is probably minimal. Maybe what they mean by saying normal one day and emphysema the next is because some damage is inevitable as an ex-smoker? It sounds as if you're doing everything you possibly can to live a healthy life and stay active and COPD/Emphysema isn't going to change your life overnight, it is slow to progress. Good luck with getting some answers though, I do hope they put your mind at rest. Sally xx
I got diagnosed with emphysema after a couple of ct scans at the end of 2023 and then diagnosed with copd after lung function tests last year. You can have emphysema without the copd bit. I was really shocked as I thought I was ok. I was very upset at first then got used to it as nothing changed other than I knew to exercise as much as possible. I’d already given up smoking in early 2023 thank goodness. Exercise can help slow the progression and hopefully you won’t get any exacerbations. Don’t despair as you may not notice any change for years
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new developments scared crapless
Well seen COPD nurse very intresting 
Shock results 
