One year ago I had a CT scan due to some symptoms. No tumor or other abnormality was found. Last week I had a CT for a kidney stone. The radiologist noted the following findings:
Bibasilar chronic interstitial disease, pneumonia or atelectasis. Also found:
Right lung base subpleural nodule, 3.6 monitored.
Several questions arose:
Could the radiologist be wrong in his findings?
If he is not wrong could a nodule grow from zero to 3.6 cm in one year?
If everything so far is accurate what are the chances the nodule/tumor is malignant given that I am 71 years old and was a heavy smoker for 45 years. Also, 4 years ago I survived a bout of bacterial pneumonia with ARDS
Would appreciate any type of feedback. Everyone is telling me to relax, don’t worry. Yet I read where Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis has a 3 to 5 year survivor rate. Also, everybody says ignore the WebMD, Mayo Clinic and the like. How can I ignore their articles and facts? They aren’t lying are they?
Reply # - August 6, 2018, 07:11 PM
Hi redman,
Hi redman,
Welcome to GRACE. There is a lot of valuable information on the web, but of course one has to be selective about the source. The sources you mentioned are good ones but no source online is going to be able to diagnose what you have.
Did the radiologist refer at all to the previous scan for a comparison?
Are you in the care of a pulmonologist? If not I would see one asap. Such a person is in the best position to decide what the next steps are, including when to order another ct scan and/or prescribe antibiotics, PET scan or biopsy etc.
Do you have any symptoms of IPF?
Have you had a recent pulmonary function test?