Finger Clubbing/Chest X-ray

Hi so sorry to hear about your Dad and the dreaded Cancer. My Mum was diagnosed in May this year, her symptoms included finger clubbing along with a very painful syndrome caused by the tumour, it was the pains in mums legs which led to the diagnosis. Luckily it seems they caught it early, she had all the diagnostic tests pet scan, bronchoscope etc and was then deemed operable, she had her lower right lobe removed at the end of July, follow ups stated no spread, she is still recovering from the trauma of it all and it has taken a huge toll on her mental health, she's went from fighting one battle to fighting another. Hope this helps 

The next stage in lc diagnosis is likely to be a CT (probably thoracic and abdomen scan) or PET scan (whole body) or even an MRI scan. Any of these/all of these will confirm lc. 

HOWEVER, It is NICE guidelines now to send an ex/smoker for an x ray, so don't be unduly alarmed that your dad has had one. Digital clubbing can be due to other things that cause restricted oxygenation as far as I know, so I expect the appt is to get to the root cause.

Try not to worry. Take one day at a time and stay strong x

Hi Sunshine78,

Sorry for your concerns for your dad but i'd like to suggest you are doing exactly the right thing by questioning circumstance. Unfortunately you can't get the answers you need without a firm diagnosis but you shouldn't be concerned about looking for answers. In the end information will lead you to a conclusive end and whether or not you google, ask questions of clinicians, the community here or elsewhere, it is okay to do so. It's extraordinarily difficult assessing information when emotions are high so please try get some support for yourself whilst doing so, it might make you better able to rationalise and prevent you fearing the worst, which is of course very natural. As is not knowing and being concerned by mixed messages or conflicting information.

When I was finally diagnosed with LC, one of my earlier symptoms when failures to diagnose occurred, was finger clubbing. It is closely associated with the disease but it is also associated to many other conditions and sometimes occurs without any serious underlying conditions. I think you are right to be concerned though I would try not to be alarmed at this point, which I know is much easier said than done. 

People like myself that suffer lung cancer have very diverse symptoms, regardless of how common they may be, and there are different types of LC also. X-ray is the go to response for smokers in some way symptomatic but as you can see by other comments and probably with your own enquiries it's not always conclusive. Blood tests can also be unreliable with certain cancers so it's very difficult for family members when medical information or reports are inconclusive.

Again, I would try not to be alarmed but try to keep an open mind. I would hope you remain steadfast with your wish to get to the bottom of matters for your dad and because your dad has clubbing, after being a long term smoker, I personally would enquire with regard to a CT scan with contrast as a minimum, though obviously your dad and your GP would have to agree and refer him for that. Having said that you should understand that I have no position to argue against any medical advice your dad has received and only make that suggestion based on my limited experience and some other knowledge gained due to such. Petscan tends to be the final assessment tool with LC but I can't speak with great certainty beyond my own experience there, which was very conclusive when I was finally diagnosed, because there are so many possible variants. 

For the moment I would take the positives from the lack of any significant findings and seek to discuss things with your parents and the GP to get to the bottom of things. It would be wrong to assume the worst from anything you've said but I think you are totally right trying to rule out the worst and seek answers for your dad's circumstance. Your dad might react in a variety of ways to investigations and findings so try to be careful not to place him between a rock and hard place, just the fear of disease can be enough to prevent people acting in ways that loved ones wish and rationalising is nearly always compromised when emotions are on the line.

All the very best to you.

Hi

Sorry you have all these worries your mind can go into overdrive when you think something may be being missed

But sometimes you have to go with instinct if you feel something may have been missed

Could you ring your GP tomorrow and ask for telephone appointment my surgery offers this facility and explain how worried you are then if it just a routine appointment you won't spend days worrying 

I spent 2 months going to my GP who first suspected ovarian cancer then stomach or bowel cancer as my main symptoms we're stomach related even being an ex smoker didn't raise the possibility of lung cancer so chest x ray came last on the list when everything else had been ruled out 

Please take the positives on the texts saying no further action as that sounds promising 

Hope everything goes well for your Dad

Margaret 

Thank you all so much for your very kind replies and advice. 

taylorduaghter ~ Thank you so much for sharing. Really sorry about your mum, but pleased to know that her LC was operable. My best wishes are sincerely with her. and yourself  Interestingly, my did has had problems with his legs, although I would not describe it as being very painful. He was given a scan of his leg and this was how he was diagnosed with hardening arteries. May I ask how long your mum had the clubbing (if it's possible to know that) and how long it took for her to be diagnosed? Did she have an initial chest x-ray? 

Isitokay ~ Information much appreciated. The chest x-ray in itself didn't alarm me as such, but since reading that a relatively high number of LC patients can present with normal x-rays did! A very good reason to not get caught up in googling, but yes, as you say, other respiratory conditions can cause it. However, apart form this clubbing he is not symptomatic of anything obviously lung related. 

OneLungRonnie ~ Thank you so much for such a thoughtful response. It was very helpful to me. Can you tell me how long you had the finger clubbing? Would you say that was your earliest symptom? I agree to take the positives so far. My mum is quite assertive in these situations and is going with dad to his Gp appt next Monday.

Margaret ~ Thank you for your reply. It's probably not my place to ring dad's GP. He said he's just forgetting about the appt until it arrives. I'm not concerned about anything being missed as yet. This new GP was observant enough to notice the clubbing (he was there on an unrelated matter) and was also quick enough to send him for an x-ray. I am assuming this appt is a follow-up as if anything had been abnormal on the x-ray, I doubt he would be seeing the GP two weeks later. The no further action text is a bit double-edged as action IS being taken by another appt being automatically made for him, so that was a bit misleading. I think that's what has upset me. His relief at getting the text but then having the surgery ring a week later. He has also suffered with stomach issues in the recent past with nothing found to be causing them from stomach and bowel cameras. 

Again thanks all. I shall keep you updated and my best wishes to you all x

Hi Sunshine78,

You're welcome.

My earliest symptom was definitely a smokers cough and it's a little difficult with the others because of a lack of awareness at the time. I was aware of the finger clubbing at some point but I'm not sure when because it happens gradually I'm led to believe. By the time I was diagnosed it was obvious to my consultant and he said my particular cancer was slow-growing and could have developed over years but I was most likely aware of the clubbing for at least 12 months along with other symptoms that I ignored or were missed. 

My 1st x-ray showed a mass (tumour) the size of an orange in my lung so it seems like a big positive to me that your dad's hasn't shown anything. I truly hope that's the best possible reason and the clubbing is due to something else entirely and not serious. 

Best wishes to you too and your family this xmas. x

Please do not click any links I am sure it's not safe and have flagged it to the moderators to check it.

Also this post was from 4 years ago!

Hi, I suffer from finger clubbing, I wondered for a while why my my finger nails were curling at the tips, I was being treated for Ataxia when it came to light (purely by accident) that I had lung cancer too which explained the finger clubbing, I never had a chest x-ray but have had many scans, hope your dad is ok.

Hi, my dad had finger clubbing about 10years ago and went to the drs. After loads of tests he diagnosed with farmers lung, nothing to do with cancer. He has unfortunately last month been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, hes been given 6 months to live. The finger clubbing though all was farmers lung. If he had stopped smoking no further damage would have happened. Maybe its detected something like that? Hopefully, fingers crossed for you xx