Hi guys, I have difficulty breathing for about 10 years now, some days is worse than others. It's very tight and heavy chest at all times, feels like breathing through the straw and like I need to keep getting satisfying deep breath. I don't have cough. I had X-ray, CT scan, normal scan, blood tests, lung capacity tests as recent as 9 months ago and all was negative. I finally accepted it was anxiety and went to the doctor to ask for different anxiety pills. Because I moved to different area and he didn't know me he said to do x-ray to rule out anything physical. I had an x-ray to n Wednesday and on Thursday I had a call from my GP that they found something on my lungs and I was referred to chest clinic for urgent referral. They called me today and I'm going for scan tomorrow so everything is moving fairly quickly, which is worrying already. I went on my online medical report and the results from xray say this:
"The heart size is normal. There is a small opacity in the left upper zone. The lungs are otherwise clear. No previous available.Urgent referral to the chest clinic is suggested for further assessment."
And the referral was for suspected lung cancer.
Is this cancer guarantee? How likely is it that it could be something else if they referred me for suspected lung cancer?
I am absolutely terrified and haven't stopped crying all weekend. Please help?
I don't have any other symptoms and I'm 33.
Thanks!
Written by
Markie9788
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Some 95% of lung nodules are benign, so it is possible that this is as well. The CT will give them more information but only a biopsy can diagnose cancer. I know several people who were diagnosed with lung cancer in their 20s and 30s who had no known risk factors, so please stay atop of this what ever the outcome.
The Go2 Foundation for Lung Cancer had a list of questions you should print out and take with you when you meet the doctor in the event you get a positive diagnosis.
It is good that you have a doctor who cares and moves swiftly. An opacity does not automatically mean cancer - over 90% of these are not cancerous. Please have your doctor also refer you to a cardiologist. I felt much like you do and a great deal of the breathing trouble was resolved with heart medication!! It was a huge surprise to me and my pulmonologist!
I know that it sounds scary but citing that is a way to ensure that investigations happen quickly and opacity can be caused by infection, inflammation, scarring and other causes including Covid, pneumonia - not just lung cancer.. I went to A&E and a lesion was found n my chest x-ray but I was discharged with steroids/antibiotics and admitted the next day and kept in for a week misdiagnosed as uncontrolled asthma. after more than a month (the scanner broke down and needed parts) after discharge, I went for a CT, then a PET scan and then told there was a large mass in my left lung and it had to be removed together with half my left lung. I had the surgery and a month later told the 7cm tumour had been lung cancer. I was back at work by the end of March. That was 11 years ago and things have changed considerably since then and even if it turns out to be lung cancer, there are many more treatments around and better outcomes. There are many tests that need to be done if the imaging shows something before it can be ruled In or out so just hang on in there... good luck... roycastle.org/about-lung-ca...
One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. These early days are full of anxiety; that's natural and we have all gone through it. You want immediate answers but tests take time. Let them go through the process and thoroughly investigate what's going on. I went through the exact same thing a little more than a year ago and today there is no evidence of disease. Great things are happening in the treatment of cancer especially lung cancer. Be patient.
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