Hello, thought I’d come on here to tell my story and if anyone can tell me what to expect next…..I was diagnosed with Bowel cancer in 2011, I had a 3rd of my bowel removed along with nearby lymph nodes which a few where cancerous…because of this I had 6 rounds of chemotherapy, this consisted of 1 day at the hospital having chemotherapy by infusion,then sent home with 2 weeks worth of tablets, the 3rd week was a free week then back for round 2 the following week…..( is chemotherapy still done this way as mines was 2011)……anyway I had yearly checks, then 3 years,then 5….each colonoscopy check up was always clear…….in December 2024 I was getting dagger pains in my chest,they got worse and worse and on the 10th December I decided to take myself up to A&E….i explained what was happening fearing I was going to have a pending Heart Attack , they took blood and also gave me a chest X-ray…I was told my blood was fine and the pain was not a heart attack, I was so relieved, but in the nurses same breath she told me my X-ray was showing a shadow on my right lung, she told me not to worry as could just be an infection but she would make me an appointment for an urgent CT scan….on the 19th December I went for my scan , on the 24th December I was to get my results from lung specialist, I was positive I was going to be told I’ve got long covid as was noticing I was getting breathless more and more each day….i went with my wife to see the specialist and was told I have a 33mm tumour on my right lung which looks very much like cancer, he then went onto say I had showings on my liver which could also be cancer ( merry Xmas to me )…I just went numb and immediately thought I was going to be riddled throughout my body…I went for MRI scan for my liver…biopsy on my lung and also a PET scan…..and eventually got told at a further consultation on the 29th January that my liver was non cancerous polyps,but my right lung was cancer and also a 7mm finding on my left lung that was from my bowel cancer in 2011…..i was relieved that’s all they found as everyday from Xmas eve up till then every bone in my body ached,every organ in my body ached and my head also , was all down to stress and me overthinking I was head to toe with cancer……I went to see another specialist at the start of February who told me in all his years he has never known anyone to have secondary cancer with zero symptoms for 14 years , he told me it’s not good news because it’s cancer but is good news that it’s grown so slowly and not spread anywhere else, he made me feel a lot more positive about it all and says I should be given surgery to remove both tumours but was not up to him but others to decide…..anyway where I am now is a have a consultation next week with a thoracic surgeon to hopefully be told I will be getting surgery…..I’m just wanting to know if anyone else has seen a thoracic surgeon and they didn’t get surgery ?? Also if it is surgery then how long after consultation did you wait until surgery…I feel this has been a lifetime since Xmas eve and still not been told if surgery or treatment…..sorry for the long winded story .
Hi SRN I am sorry to hear about your diagnoses, I know how much of a scare that must of been for you and your wife.
Surgery is always the best option for a cure for lung cancer, but there are also lots of other treatments that can be just as successful. There are so many people now who are living much longer with the disease than ever before. Like you, my cancer is a secondary lung cancer which started in my womb 5 years previously. I have been living with the disease in both lungs now for the past 10 years. So 15 years since my cancer journey started.
The secondary lung group isn’t a very active group, so can I suggest that you come over to the Lung cancer forum where there several people who have had surgery, who I know will share their experience with you. You can copy and paste this thread into the lung group if you like, if you need help with that, just pop back here and I will get someone from the team to do that for you.
