So, reticent and negligent, the prodigal HNC patient returns with some less-than-pleasant news. My 6 month PET scan came back with 2 spots, one in the neck that is very small and could be nothing but is probably a recurrence that will require surgery (wonderful) and a second spot in the chest which is "concerning".

I meet with my RO on Wednesday, but my ENT and the pulmonary oncologist he spoke to believe this to be too deep to biopsy. Their recommendation right now is to get a targeted CT scan in about 6 weeks and take another look and then determine treatment options. I see from reading, however, that distant metastasis to the chest is not a particularly great thing.

The ENT described the treatment as "for cure" so I am guardedly optimistic, but I must say my reading has not been encouraging to this point. Hopefully my RO has something more encouraging to say although we (my wife and I) worry he might have a bit of and "I can save everyone" complex.

As before, I'm frightened, a bit depressed and very worried. Maybe it's a bit of a false positive on the PET scan but I think that is foolishly optimistic -- I am preparing for the worst and considering curative vs. palliative discussions -- I hope they choose their words wisely. Meanwhile, all I can do is wait until Wednesday to talk to the other doc and then hope for good news at the turn of the new year.

I had hoped I had this thing beat and assumed I did. I guess I'm lucky they are doing 3 month scans as any hope I might have hinges on the idea that early recurrence/metastasis at least lends hope to curative treatment. As before, I am so lucky for my wife -- she spent another long weekend sheltering me from what I think of as my own personal "Pigs on the Wing" -- my sadness, fears and anger over this stupid, unfair disease. Yeah, feeling a bit sorry for myself today. I can muster Hellion by name, Hellion by nature fighting spirit when they tell me my options -- today I just need to feel bad, feel sad and feel like everything sucks.

Try not to worry... One of the members here had a son with a spot on his lungs... It was scar tissue. Hopefully it's something environmental, or maybe something you aspirated. It doesn't have to be cancer. Hugs.

Yeah, I know how you are feeling. It's cathartic to vent, so vent away.
This disease and all it's incumbent fears are horrible. Just try not to let yourself slide into that grave . You really do still not know exactly what you are dealing with here. But I get the worries and fears. Try not to borrow sorrow from tomorrow.
Why do they want to wait 6 weeks more? If this was "us" I would want a definitive answer and start of treatment now.
Keeping you and your Wife in my thoughts .
Tammy

That does stink! Vent all you want. Hopefully, there are other reasons to cause this uptake, I had my share, but is difficult to say without a biopsy unless it shrinks, disappears in that wait time. I guess the lung suspicion is too deep? An FNAB, under ultrasound guidance, may be possible for the neck lymph node, which results may shed more light in the direction to go.

Good luck, and hope for better answers, reassurance with your meeting.

Hellion, I'm sorry the news is not more encouraging. It is only human to be scared and sad, so give yourself permission to be so. Keeping you and your wife in my thoughts.

Im so sorry you did not have the best results. Try taking it one step at a time and not to get too far ahead of yourself. If after further testing it comes back as a recurrence, seek out a second opinion right away.

Wishing you all the best!

So sorry to hear that, Hellion. Hope Wednesday's visit gives you a clearer picture of the options. Having just been through a six week wait for FNA/ultrasound which turned out okay I know how horrible the wait is. I've had the wait before too on several occasions. This time I had a period of extreme sadness then remembered all the info I'd got about meditation etc from the cancer psychologist. I wrote a diary and Googled "how to wait for cancer results", finding a couple of strategies which helped.

Talking to a psychologist or counsellor might help a lot.

My love to you and your wife.

Go ahead and feel bad, feel sad and a feel like everything sucks day. I can only hope for some decent news on the next appointment.

Thank you all for the good advice. I was hoping for a simple resolution to this latest scan -- now it's time to see what we do next and when. I just like having some place to shout sometimes, hehe.

The Hellion

The fork in the road you stand is where I have been too. My "spots" on the lungs were there in the initial scans and could not be ruled out as distant mets. Since it was proven to be so, I got a M0 and trotted along the curative path.

I went round and round with pulmonologists to try to figure out the "spot" but never was able to diagnose it.

After treatment, the scans showed it remained there; so, the logic went if it was cancer it would have changed (i.e. gone away or reduced) and since it did not change it was not likely cancer and likely an infection or scar.

The next full scan about a year out showed it disappeared so it was some infection.

During that first time interval between it being shown and not knowing for certain was quite unsettling to say the least. For me it was the most difficult thought I had to manage as it was the one I could not assign any rationale.

When he second scan after treatment showed it remained, I had some solid ground to get out of the limbo land.

As we always say, it's not cancer until proven and that certainly is the case with the spot on the lung.