What will happen now?

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Hi

i am a Breast Cancer Survivor who’s 80 year old mum has Lung cancer…..we think! Briefly, mum had a small node 5mm spotted on a ct scan in 2022. The professionals weren’t worried, it’s very common, and would be monitored. Fast forward to now. The node is now 10mm and almost certainly lung cancer. Mum can’t have a biopsy or a pet ct as the centre is not big enough. It’s 4mm with 6mm of ground glass opacity around it. It needs to be 6mm in the middle before they can test it further.

Usually an operation would remove it and hopefully job done. Due to mums age, and the fact that she is a smoker with atrial fibrillation and lymphoma which is not doing anything, they have monitored her bloods for 10 years and they remain normal, they don’t think an operation would be viable. We understand the reasoning behind this but what will happen going forward? Will it be treated when it gets bigger? 

my mum currently has a good quality of life. She’s independent to a degree. I am so worried about how the future is looking. We have a meeting on Monday to discuss what happens next but it is driving me mad thinking about all the what ifs. 

has anyone had a small slow growing node that hasn’t been removed by surgery? Any advice or information would be really helpful.

 Thanks and I hope everyone is doing as well as they can be Heart

  • I had similar. I had a keyhole surgery at Guys with frozen section biopsy. If they weren’t malignant I’d have been out in a hour. In my case they were malignant and I lost a lobe. Tiny scars. Well cared for. V easy process. Ok 4 years later I’m looking at recurrence and the shit that goes with it. But that bit. That was easy. Clean. Controllable there were 3 nodes. And my ggo are like grapes in both lungs. I’ll deal with what I’ve got. But the lobectomy I was back at work in 6 weeks. Much luck to your mother xx

  • Hi Hawkster66

    So sorry that you have cause to be on here.

    We are not medics on here, however I think your Mum's medical team will offer two options;

    1. Wait and see, with regular monitoring

    2. A course of daily radiotherapy.  Radiotherapy is a very effective cancer treatment in it's own right, but does generally cause extreme tiredness.

    Mum's medical team will take into consideration her age and her other medical conditions plus the impact of any treatment on her ongoing quality of life.

    I hope you get the answers on Monday.

    Kegsy x

    "If you are going through hell, keep going" ; Sir Winston Churchill
    " Cancer may take my life; however it will not become my life" Kegsy August 2011