I just wanted to share my story and emotions:
Mid- November my husband had a severe pain in his side, causing difficulty and pain when taking a breath. We went to the emergency clinic. I was not allowed in with him and eventually the doctor came out to talk with me. He felt he was having an exacerbation and also notice a 1.7cm mass in his lower right lobe. He was admitting him. I was stunned and scared. He was also diagnosed with COVID once in the hospital. How could this happen? He's vaccinated, had the booster and rarely leaves the house. Yep, I was still trying to absorb all this. I could visit every day during his stay. I tested negative. Thank goodness it was a short stay and he continued his isolation at home.
We still had the mass to deal with. A PET scan was ordered by his pulmonologist. The scan confirmed the nodule to be malignant.
After his pulmonologist discussed this with other Doctors on their “Tumor Board” They came up with the following:
Nodule is Highly suspicious for malignancy.
Due to severity of COPD/CRF, testing and treatment options are limited After film review treatment recommended is stereotactic radiation therapy without biopsy and without fiducial markers. We're waiting to talk with the radiation oncologist.
I have moments when I'm angry, sometimes numb, and a lot of time feeling helpless. And sometimes I would like to find somewhere and scream. We've been dealing with COPD for several years but I never expected to hear the word "cancer."
I know that I will research the plan and treatment once we have talked with the oncologist. But the emotional roller coaster can be overwhelming.