Foggy stuff in lungs

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fiddler
fiddler Member Posts: 77
edited December 2022 in Lung Cancer
Has anyone had a CT scan and it came back with "small ground glass opacities"? If so what is your experience with it?

Also, a false alarm sent me into a spin - HU blood test came back with "small cell carcinoma in lungs". Before my onco doc saw the confirmation HU test negated the first one (I don't have it) the CT scan was completed and we found the opacities. So, not a mistake, just my guardian angel reminding me to not eat sugar or grains, and eat low carb (I've slid over T-Day and P-Day).

Part of this is old age. Pfft to that! Gimme a sport car and the Italian Coast!

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  • beachbum5817
    beachbum5817 Member Posts: 235
    edited December 2020
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    I have never heard of small ground glass opacities, but I am so glad that is what you have instead of a recurrence of cancer. What a relief. Your way to celebrate sounds good to me. Take care.
  • Kylerem
    Kylerem Member Posts: 16
    edited January 2021
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    Hi- I have had this on my CT scan recently and was told by my oncologist it’s not cancer but inflammatory. I did have a pleurex catheter in my lung at one point in Feb and she feels this caused some chronic inflammation.
  • fiddler
    fiddler Member Posts: 77
    edited December 2020
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    @Kylerem - did the doc prescribe something?
  • Kylerem
    Kylerem Member Posts: 16
    edited January 2021
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    @Fiddler-My doctor did not prescribe anything. She described the area as scar tissue and said she had consulted 3 separate radiologists who concurred. I have CT scans every 3 months so I’m sure they will watch for changes. What did your doctor say?
  • fiddler
    fiddler Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2021
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    A little different - it's in both lungs and it's new, 7 yrs after rads. Pulmo doc didn't say much and said to do another CT in 1 yr; if anything changes seem him again. That's it.

    Huh. Not satisfied with that. So I asked the good people on this site if they had it. Only @Kylerem.

    Love mysteries. Checked the internet and came up with confirmation of a long-standing hunch. I think it will be put rest (as much as possible): mold. 4 types of tests showed negative in the past. So, back to asthma/allergy doc for shots to desensitize, plus a humidifier for Sjogren's and an air purifier for mold.
  • Kylerem
    Kylerem Member Posts: 16
    edited January 2021
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    I’ve done some research as well and it seems this finding is common in people who have had COVID pneumonia. So makes sense that it would be an indication of inflammation
  • fiddler
    fiddler Member Posts: 77
    edited December 2020
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    @Kylerem
    I saw that, too, about 25% in people with asymptomatic covid. I still wonder about that, but haven't found an answer. My question is: can someone with GGO test neg for covid but could have had it in the past? No answer yet. What do you think about this?
  • Kylerem
    Kylerem Member Posts: 16
    edited January 2021
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    I was really sick back in Feb-couldn’t breathe, on 4L of O2 and hospitalized. Ended up with tubes in both lungs to drain fluid that just kept accumulating. COVID wasn’t a thing then. That is when the GGO first appeared on my CT. I did have antibody testing in July and it was negative. I still wonder if I had the virus but may never know. The GGO disappeared by April but then showed up again in Aug so who the heck knows! So I think anything is possible!
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 754
    edited January 2021
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    @Kylerem, I really think COVID was well into the population in February, but they just hadn't sounded the alarm bells yet and hadn't given it a name. They were still looking at it a "worse" or "very serious" viral situation than what had been encountered in the past. I don't think anyone was thinking "pandemic" at that time. Looking back at symptoms, I am fully convinced I had it in late December/early January. All of the symptoms were consistent. I was terribly afraid that my cancer was further along than I thought. They just encouraged me to treat it like a really bad chest cold at that time.
    About two weeks later, a young friend of mine in her mid-20's was put into the hospital days with heart palpitations, respiratory symptoms, severe fatigue. The doctors ran all kinds of tests and she was put in isolation. She clearly had something more than an ordinary flu or pneumonia but no-one knew what it was. Once COVID became a "thing", it was evident she was one of the early cases in our area.
    There are a lot of people I know who had a really nasty "superflu" in December, January and early February that knocked us on our butts but wasn't called COVID.
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 754
    edited December 2020
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    In any case, I am glad that both you and fiddler have made it through. The health and wellbeing of our WN members is the most important thing to me.
  • andreacha
    andreacha Member Posts: 196
    edited January 2021
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    Last December (2019) I had to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital. I thought I had fractured my back for the third time. The pain was excruciating and making it hard to breathe. They gave me a chest CT and I was told it was pneumonia. I've had pneumonia five or six times in my life and I've never had that kind of pain. I was given an antibiotic and an RX to get filled. After two weeks I wasn't much better. I went to the local ER this time and they just gave me a chest X-ray. The diagnosis that time was pleurisy. I've heard of it and given my age I just accepted what they said. They gave me a different antibiotic. After two more weeks I had had it and called my Primary in tears. He took me in right away. He looked on the computer at the results and was very hesitant to say he didn't agree with the two diagnoses but admitted he wasn't sure himself what it was. He could see I was still in significant pain. He decided to give me a steroid injection in four places. He said to give it a couple of days and call him and let him know how I felt. He was right it took two full days but on the third there was great relief. It wasn't until a couple of months ago I had him give me an antibodies test. There hadn't been one available when I was sick. It came back negative. But neither of us was surprised at the results as no one is sure how long antibodies will present themselves. I swear it was Covid, particularly when it was made known much after the fact that we were aware of something in this country going back to December and it was never made public until much after the fact.
  • fiddler
    fiddler Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2021
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    @andreacha @legaljen1969

    sorry to hear about your experiences w/covid and glad you recovered.

    I was amazed to learn that covid was found in San Francisco, on post-mortem ... in November 2019!
    the man was advanced age with comorbidities

    a client had a really bad cough and other symptoms in January 2020

    who knows how many "cases" ...

    btw, this reminds me of news about Viet Nam - the mortality count. Everyday they reported how many young men died. Now, everyday they report how many new cases.

    media hype ... turn off the F'n tv, right?
  • Sassmat
    Sassmat Member Posts: 2
    edited January 2021
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    My husband had the "ground Glass" in his lungs. He was diagnosed with pneumonitis, an after effect from his radiation. He was put on antibiotics & high dose steroids. Took about 4-5 months to totally clear out.
  • fiddler
    fiddler Member Posts: 77
    edited December 2020
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    @Sassmat
    did your husband have GGO in both lungs?
  • Sassmat
    Sassmat Member Posts: 2
    edited January 2021
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    No it was just in the lung that he had the lung cancer in
  • legaljen1969
    legaljen1969 Member Posts: 754
    edited January 2021
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    @fiddler, though I am not old enough to have actual memory of the body counts announcements on TV during Vietnam, you are not the first person to bring up that similarity lately.

    Though I don't think it is "media hype," I do believe the media quite enjoys creating hysteria and hopelessness in us all.

    My prayers are with all of you who have lung issues. I imagine the prospect of COVID must be even more worrisome.
  • fiddler
    fiddler Member Posts: 77
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    @legaljen1969
    okay 'hype' is strong - my push back. In my county no one comes of the 'cases' number even when they're discharged from the hospital and well again.

    Happy New Year to you and I really do hope you get to do those things on the wish list.
  • LiveWithCancer
    LiveWithCancer Member Posts: 470
    edited January 2021
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    My CT scans frequently mention the ground glass stuff. My oncologist has never been particularly concerned about.
  • Paperpusher
    Paperpusher Member Posts: 78
    edited January 2021
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    I've had ground glass show up on my chest x-rays and I've never had cancer but had bronchitis plenty of times. I was told it was from that.
  • fiddler
    fiddler Member Posts: 77
    edited January 2021
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    Follow up: went to my asthma/allerby clinic and they referred me to a pulmonologist, who said they're too small to biopsy, many things can cause them, they're inflammation i.e. infection, and they may go away on their own. I asked him if they could turn into cancer. He looked at me with a serious face and said, "It's highly unlikely." Whew! Followed up with the asthma/allergy doc and he isn't concerned, either. The onco doc didn't seem too concerned, either.

    Darn the internet! Even the Mayo Clinic said they could turn into cancer! Best way to get a former cancer patient's panties in a wad is to use the C word!

    Another CT in a year to see if there's any change. In the meantime I'll try various things - walking to get my breathing a little faster and maybe that'll push the infection out; no sugar (infections and cancer like it); sound therapy.

    I found a soundtrack for cancer removal. I wondered if it would work on the GGOs. It worked on my kidney - I didn't know I had stones until they passed; my urine was the color of root beer. Here's the link, if you're curious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge6aQqhyopk&list=PLRQC-gSAVPLTE16HBxP1dli-GZTq70i2F&index=2
  • beachbum5817
    beachbum5817 Member Posts: 235
    edited January 2021
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    I am glad to hear that you got good news. I can imagine how relieved you are. Take care.

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