Hello to all & thank you in advance. My Mom..Stage 3A, adeno. Dx'ed last August 2012. 1.9 cm in ULL with three positive lymph nodes that were resected....one node and area could not be removed. Six rounds of chemo...carbo and taxol with (29) rounds of radiation and (9) rounds of Proton radiation. CT on 01/04/13 had inflamation showing likely due to radiation but no signs of metates...basically same on PET/CT on 03/04/13.My Mom lost A LOT of weight had to be admitted to the hospital twice and a PEG feeding tube installed which she still has and RECENTLY started using more .... three to four weeks earlier she had started to wean herself off of.
So... we are at her doctors today... as she has developed a cough that she has sporadically at times and when she's had these sporadic coughing spells we believe she has inflamed her espohagus more. She was diagnosed with SEVERE esophagitis. Now...considering all of the above... the doctors want to run another CT with contrast on May 2nd and likely want to do a gastro study. Why do they want to do another CT so soon and then follow up with a GI study?
Any ideas what is going on with my Mom? Please give us some insightful input. And...THE QUESTION...God forbid.... could this be the C - word....?!!? Thank you so very much!
Update and of course some questions...sorry and thank you - 1255944
dkm5859
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Reply # - April 25, 2013, 06:08 PM
Reply To: Update and of course some questions…sorry and thank
I'm very sorry that she continues to have such a hard time. We're happy to try to provide general information about general issues related to lung cancer, but it's not possible for us to divine what might possibly be going on in a very unique case treated in a very unique way, and who is currently having very unique complications.
Rather than try to read the mind of someone who is evaluating her directly, who I haven't met, and who is reviewing the case of someone who we don't have the details about, I would have to suggest that you or someone else there contact the doctor(s) making these recommendations to get a sense of what they're thinking. They are in a far better position to clarify their thought process.
-Dr. West
Reply # - April 26, 2013, 01:50 PM
Reply To: Update and of course some questions…sorry and thank
Ok... if they suspect radiation complications causing some of these issues...specifically radiation pneunmontis...wouldn't the standard protocol for identifying it be a chest x-ray as opposed to a CT?
She also has a PET/CT scheduled for early June. I'm just very concerned that it is possibly a recurrence or it never was fully in remission... Could cancer recur/show this qucikly from 03/04/13??!! enough to cause coughing and such? if possible please let me know on this directly above. Thank you very much.
Reply # - April 26, 2013, 01:56 PM
Reply To: Update and of course some questions…sorry and thank
A chest X-ray is fine...but that technology is over 100 years old, and you get exponentially greater information from a chest CT, which is readily available and not that expensive. Overall, I would consider a chest x-ray to be useful in very, very limited settings, but you get incredibly greater insight from a chest CT.
As you've probably seen in the discussion forums here before, in many places, cancer can do anything, and it's unfortunately all too possible for a cancer to be progressing shortly after completing recent therapy. We can even see cancer growing right through the treatment, though that is not very common.
Good luck.
-Dr. West