Would waiting three months to do testing to see if a 1.5 cm found on a catscan is cancerous or benign?

are the cancers found there always fatal and would this 3 months be super important to survivng or not..

I just told my son and brother one was found via catscan for a major wreck..so much is happening to me my head is spinning..one thing after another since my died 4 months ago..and just in last two weeks..I am not sure I can emotionally go through finding this out..I have insitu ductal carcionoma on the same side against chest wall..maybe 14 years ago that recurred about 6 years later still insitu..(3 lumpectomies and radiation one time)..I heard the radiation can cause cancers also..dad died of lung cancer in mid 50's (my age)..I remember his suffering and not sure I can go through this,...dad smoked in my childhood before they knew about 2nd hand smoke..I remember coughing all the time but only yesterday realized this was probably why I coughed..I also smoked 3 packs a day before they told you it was dangerous and am currently highly allergic to cigarette smoke..I quit in 1976

31 years ago ...what are my odds it is cancer...and is this size a bad one..should I get checked...I am afraid to think about it even..I do not have bloody sputum like dad did but cough up clear phlegm sometimes and wheeze but I think this i from allergies..doctor thought I had allergic rhinitis...I used to think I had chronic bronchitis but when I moved from a house that I later found had mold under carpet..symptoms went away till they remodeled...(thick dust I inhaled) but went away...appetite fine..

They are probably waiting because 1.5cm is very small . . so they are not sure what they are dealing with. What they are probably recommending is to wait three months to see if this nodule grows or remains the same. The CT you had is called a baseline scan . . which they will use to compare with the next scan. This is often the only way to tell if a patient is dealing with cancer or not. I can only assume you are talking about only one 1.5cm nodule and not several. We are used to dealing with multiple tumors well over 2cm . . and I know that even 2cm is considered small.

It is not clear from your question is you are in remission from cancer and they think this is a met to your lungs or not? In either case, ask your doctor to shorten the time up to 8 weeks . . I am not sure if you would be allowed to have a CT so soon after the one you just had . . but 8 weeks may be possible. You should also discuss this with your oncologist to see if they think it is a reoccurence. There really is not too much that anyone can do for you until they determine if this is a new malignancy or a reoccurence . . and you may need to wait to see if it grows or not. Growth would mean it is probably maligant, while no growth . . than it might be benign. The added benefit of waiting is to see if there are any more growths that show up during this time period .. if this is a malignancy . . than there may be some that are not yet visible. That could be one reason to wait . . to see exactly what you are dealing with before undergoing any type of treatment. The good news seems to be that this is small . . and everyone is aware that its there.

to order a chest xray (which would also show if my back was fractured (as I was told two different things) then changed her mind saying to wait 3-6 months..she claims the chance pulmonary nodule is cancer is not 40% but rather 10%. both my counselor and I saw it said 40% also Report It

...who is right? I am sorry about your son and if you are interested I will send you want I know..I have intensely studied alternative health for 30 years and have a lot of knowledge most people don't know about. Report It

.it is kind of long..I had some info I typed for someone and if you want to send me your email address, or a fake email address you can access, I would be happy to share with you what I know to try to help your son..this info was helpful and Report It

in line which what doctors told me yesterday and today..still I would like a 2nd opinion or to see an pulmonary specialist or oncologist..if I can find one that takes my HMO which is crap. Also see my comments to one of the posters above the best answer in additional details. Report It

Ask this question to your doctor. It seems to me like you would want to get it checked right away, since the odds of successfully treating cancer are better the earlier it is discovered.

Why in the hell would you even CONSIDER asking for serious, potentially life-threatening medical advice from a bunch of anonymous STRANGERS like you find here at Yahoo Answers?


ASK YOUR DOCTOR THESE KINDS OF IMPORTANT QUESTIONS!!!!

(Have you lost your MIND??!!!!)

Yes you really should be checked right away. Ask your child to go to the Doctor with you to support you. God Bless you!

Get off your butt and go see the doctor to get the tests run yesterday. There is always a better chance of controlling cancer if treated earlier. Also, it might be nothing and you are wrong to be upset. Get to the doc asap.

They can not be sure it is cancer before they do a biopsy of the tumor. This is an unpleasant process, but if you insist they will do it immediately.
If it is cancer it may be removable via surgery and get cured (or at lease get several more healthy years.
The doctors delay the biopsy if they have good reason to suspect that it is not cancer or that there could be many other tumors which are too small to be visible (and in that case there is no point in a surgery).
Lets hope for the best - and do the biopsy if you are too worried.

Please don't wait. My best friend was diagnosed with Ductal carcinoma insitu a year and a half ago. It was throughout enough of her breast that they did a mastectomy. 6 months later she went for a mammogram on her other breast. They found something suspicious, but she waited 3 1/2 months to get it taken out. By that point it had turned invasive and was all the way down through her chest wall and into her rib. It's been almost a year now and even with aggressive chemo it's spread to her lungs and other spots in her bones. She's only 30 with 2 young children and is faced with the fact that she has less than a year to live.

I'm also a breast cancer survivor and can't believe you'd even think about waiting. Yes, it's scary to think about going down that road again, but think about what the consequences of waiting could be.