Update on my mother - Good News!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2005
Update on my mother - Good News!
4
Wed, 06-04-2008 - 8:43am

Thanks again to everyone who posted about your experiences with lung cancer.  It was very comforting to hear your stories - I even shared them with my Mom before I was finally able to go visit and she found them helpful too. 


Now for the good news:  I have to update my mom's case - it has changed drastically, but in a good way.  I feel like we have "dodged" a huge bullet - I just returned from visiting my parents for an extended time to help them out, and try to get some real answers.  I met with her internist for a discussion about her CT scan.  I was concerned because what I was hearing directly from my mom "it is lung cancer" - she said an ER doctor from St. Josephs in Asheville sat on her bed, with my Dad there too - and basically said "go home, call your doctor, this looks like lung cancer" and based on what she was feeling, she was sure it was - and her doctor did confirm that a "spot" appeared on the CT scan - but then said his "gut" told him it wasn't cancer - that wasn't good enough for me.  No details about the size of the spot or why he didn't think it was cancer - just basically "trust me" kind of attitude.  Since this doctor was so sure it wasn't cancer I wanted to know why - from him.  He stated to me that this spot was so small it could not be responsible for all of her pain and symptoms - that it was too small even for a biopsy.  He believes there is something else going on though - her white cell count is very low and other indicators in her blood work are still bad - and she had no improvement from taking either antibiotics or the prednisone.  At this point he is also thinking she has also become very depressed which is intensifying her pain.  My mom is adamant she is not depressed, but even I think she might be - and my father does too.  It would be completely understandable given the last 12 months.  The internist had her go to a rhumatologist this past Monday - this doctor is running his own batch of tests - may take up to 3 weeks for all of them - but he thinks she has an auto-immune disorder, combined with her fibromyalgia pain, plus she has a sleep study tomorrow night - for apnea - all combined they believe that might be the key.  As for the spot on the lung - they did do a 2nd CT scan while I was there - the first spot hadn't changed, and there was actually a 2nd spot...even smaller...but it only appeared on one of the scans - so I am very frustrated with this - but he is confident it is nothing - he said "it could be some scarring from shen she was 12 years old and fell or something" - but he said "I can't guarantee it isn't going to develop into lung cancer...so we'll do another CT scan in 3 months."  If that scan shows any change, or there is yet another spot - I will insist that she be referred to a pulminary specialist...we just can't take the chance.  In the meantime I just pray they find what is causing all the bad blood work so we can have an answer on that. 


So she jumped the gun on the cancer "diagnosis" - she said she is embarassed to have told everyone that is what she had - I say nonsense - nothing to be embarassed about - this is an answer to all the prayers, and given what she's been feeling it did seem to fit.  We aren't entirely "in the clear" yet, but even if it is cancer, we've apparently caught it very early and now just have to stay on top of what is going on in the right lung - something I think very few people have the opportunity to do - catch it so early.


Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to share all that has gone on and say thank to everyone as well, and wish everyone lots of healing and happiness!  


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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2007
Wed, 06-04-2008 - 11:34pm

That is great to hear!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2005
Wed, 06-25-2008 - 5:39am

Maggie - I just wanted to pop in and let you know that my Mom was diagnosed finally - she still has to monitor both the 2 spots on her lung and some lesions they found on her liver - but she was officially diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2007
Wed, 06-25-2008 - 5:16pm

Charlene, that is so good to hear.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2005
Wed, 06-25-2008 - 7:49pm
Thanks Maggie!
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