My father was found to have a shadow on his lung which he was informed of on Christmas eve. He has been losing his appetite for a few months, has lost weight and has had some intense pain in his hip for around four months. Yesterday apparently he was very tired, not his usual self. I am living in France and spoke to my parents on the phone today when I noticed he was very short of breath and so I urged my mother to take him to hospital. It took a further two people to convince her. In the meantime I learnt from my brother that he had been having a few funny turns, as in not being himself mentally, I also learned that he had been having shoulder pain for some months. Classic text book symptoms. I'm convinced he has advanced lung cancer with brain mets you name it. So I don't understand why, after putting him on a nebuliser and his breathing improving, they did some xrays in the hospital and have let him out tonight. My family are being vague and it is annoying to say the least. They have been 'protecting' me for I don't know how long, and obviously don't seem to grasp that this secrecy has the opposite effect. Can anyone tell me what else, alongside these symptoms, could a 'shadow on the lung' possibly be?
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lucanus15
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sorry to hear about your dad, it must be hard living in France and it's all going on, I assume in England, but I'm sure your family think they're doing the best thing, but one of the hard things about cancer is the waiting. I went into hospital with breathing difficulties and was kept in to make sure I could cope without oxygen, otherwise I would of been sent home, as for the shadow, well only test results will tell you what that is, and that takes a while, it's a tough time waiting because it could be anything but you don't know so your mind goes through everything, good luck with this and wishing you and your family all the best
Sorry to hear about your Dad and the worry this is causing you, especially not being in the UK at the moment.
It must be difficult if you are only getting little bits of information, but you are also noticing a difference in your Dad. A Shadow on the lung is more of an observation of an abnormality that merits further investigation and not a diagnosis in itself.
At the moment with your Dad it may be priority to ensure he has pain relief until they find out what is causing his symptoms. It is encouraging that the nebulisers have helped his breathing and if he has had an infection this could impact on his mental health or present with confusion.
Hopefully your family will inform you of any further investigations or medical management.
Our Freephone nurse led helpline is open on the 3rd January if you wish to discuss anything or you can email lungcancerhelp@roycastle.org
Macmillan support have varying hours over the festive period but are usually open 24 hours if this would be helpful to discuss your Dads symptoms with them;0808 808 00 00, their website with their festive hours are: macmillan.org.uk/informatio...
Sorry to read of your situation and your dad's. Please try not to jump to conclusions especially self diagnosis by internet. We can convince ourselves and our loved ones that we have all manner of fatal diseases unnecessarily. The lungs have no pain receptors but inflammation in the lungs or the lung lining can be felt in the shoulders and could be pneumonia, pleurisy, other chest infections - not only lung cancer. In Oct 2010, I was unable to breathe normally and went to A&E and a chest x-ray showed a 'lesion' on my left lung. I was given nebulisers, steroids and antibiotics. these are the first defence in trying to calm down inflammation in the lungs irrespective of the cause - COPD, Asthma, other lung conditions, pneumonia, infections etc. ) I was sent home, readmitted next day and kept in for 6 nights diagnosed as 'uncontrolled asthma' which I'd had a child/young person but not for years. I was told I needed to have a CT scan and booked in for a couple of weeks later but the scanner broke down. Anyway, long story short, I eventually had CT scan over a month later and in the meantime had respiratory nurses explain that many people have discrepancies on their chest x-rays from previous scarring/infections, TB, pneumonia etc and as a never smoker,unlikely to be serious. After more scans and consultant appointment told I needed surgery to remove the mass (and half my left lung) and in January I was told it was lung cancer. I was back at work and swimming 3 months later. In the intervening years I've been hospitalised several times - in June 2015 (chest infection), Oct 2015 surgery to release trapped ulna nerve (that consultant thought might be caused by tumour), Dec 2016 (pneumonia), May 2017 pseudomonas (healthcare acquired antibiotic resistant infection) and Jan 2019 respiratory virus. I tell you this not for sympathy - but to show that all of these episodes had similar symptoms, showed similar responses on various tests yet even with a lung cancer history were not lung cancer. Confusion/mental differences can often be caused by medication side effects, urinary tract infections, dehydration, sleeplessness, anxiety and stress so brain mets not the most likely cause. On several of these 'episodes' I have been really poorly - but most often the worst symptoms are related to the strong medication along with the infection or virus. I had a friend short of breath - eventually went to hospital in spring 2018, had no end of tests on her lungs thought to be a lung problem but it turned out to be ovarian cancer putting pressure on her lungs/diaphragm resulting in breathlessness. Heart issues can also be the cause of breathlessness. Sorry for the long post but want to assure you that the symptoms you're describing could be caused by many things - not all sinister and it's an anxious time for all concerned. Better to explain your concerns to your family, ask how you can help and that you need to know. It may be they don't know themselves- testing and diagnostics can take many weeks . I know that I couldn't handle the pressure of frequent texts from relatives when in hospital initially so was very circumspect about who I told what - more to protect me than them. hope you get some answers and just as importantly that your dad is given up follow up appointments in case further treatment is needed for his recovery.
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