Hi,
I hope I have posted this in the correct forum. I am 40 years old and have had an annoying sometimes productive cough for the past few months. I suffer from allergies so my doctor initially thought it was down to post nasal drip. When treatment didn't help, she sent me for a chest x-ray. I finally got the results yesterday after a 5 week wait and it has really frightened me.
She says I have a small opacity in the lower right lung and it needs further investigation. She has referred me to the hospital on a 2 week fast track.
I can't function I'm so scared. I've convinced myself I have lung cancer and as I've been coughing for so long, it will probably kill me.
I just want to hear any advice you can give me as I know you can't diagnose me, but I can't eat or sleep I'm in bits. I'm terrified I won't get to see my kids grow up.
Thanks for reading x
Reply # - July 4, 2017, 07:26 AM
evizza,
evizza,
"Lung cancer mainly occurs in older people. About 2 out of 3 people diagnosed with lung cancer are 65 or older, while less than 2% are younger than 45. The average age at the time of diagnosis is about 70." https://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-small-cell-lung-cancer/about/key-stat…
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Most opacities in the lung are benign nodules that don't grow over time nor cause health issues. Another large percent represent infection or other inflammation that resolve over time. The least number of nodules found on scans end up being lung cancer. Also the overwhelming number of coughs are due to something other than cancer.
Armed with this information maybe you can hope with a little more certainty that you don't have cancer. I understand you won't completely get over the idea that it could be but intellectually you can tell yourself this is probably something else.
I hope you find nothing wrong with your lungs.
All best,
Janine
Reply # - July 4, 2017, 11:16 AM
Thank you so much for your
Thank you so much for your reply. I know what you say is right but I just can't seem to stop bursting into tears and fearing the worst. I'm hoping that I will feel better after seeing the consultant; it's the waiting and not knowing which is terrifying.