I was in the hospital in the spring of 2023 getting my broken hip repaired after my rather big dog had thrown me to the ground. I had just come out of surgery ( they put a nine inch titanium pin in my thigh along with two
permanent screws to hold the femur in place)the top of it had sheered off when I fell on a cement slab .
So there I was rather groggy and someone came in to tell me I needed to have a cat scan of my lungs immediately because the routine lung xray they had given me prior to surgery had revealed a nodule in my lower right lung. I had not eaten or had anything to drink in 24 hours ( but I was on a drip for fluids) and was already in a bad mood. I smiled at the nurse. Their game plan was to analyze the node and then schedule me for a biopsy asap .
Sorry, I told them. I was 76, and had no intention of treating my senior body
like a slab of meat. " I will take care of lung later. " I promised.
I did not have the energy to explain I have had
serious bronchitis a number of times, pleurisy, whooping cough, Hong Kong flu and had endured several bad smokey fire seasons when I lived in Montana. In other words my lungs had had their share of nasties . I promised to do a follow up when i was out of the hospital. .
So here I am 18 months later and just
had another chest xray. I now know that lung nodules are very common and about 97 out of 100 are benign. I am totally asymptomatic-- I don't cough up blood,don't have wheezing, breathe normally, I also have not had a repiratory infection in four years. I just refused my current doctor's offer to schedule me for a contrast cat scan-- which means injecting me with a dye, then getting the equivalent of 1,200 chest xrays. I just am not into the fear porn of cancer. I also would ever do chemo nor have a biopsy. There are a number of alternative treatnents for cancer which would be my first treatment choice should the need ever arise.
Thanks for sharing that, Eunice. You're smart, and that’s a survival skill in avoiding unnecessary medical intervention. They’ll test you to death, literally.
I was in the hospital in the spring of 2023 getting my broken hip repaired after my rather big dog had thrown me to the ground. I had just come out of surgery ( they put a nine inch titanium pin in my thigh along with two
permanent screws to hold the femur in place)the top of it had sheered off when I fell on a cement slab .
So there I was rather groggy and someone came in to tell me I needed to have a cat scan of my lungs immediately because the routine lung xray they had given me prior to surgery had revealed a nodule in my lower right lung. I had not eaten or had anything to drink in 24 hours ( but I was on a drip for fluids) and was already in a bad mood. I smiled at the nurse. Their game plan was to analyze the node and then schedule me for a biopsy asap .
Sorry, I told them. I was 76, and had no intention of treating my senior body
like a slab of meat. " I will take care of lung later. " I promised.
I did not have the energy to explain I have had
serious bronchitis a number of times, pleurisy, whooping cough, Hong Kong flu and had endured several bad smokey fire seasons when I lived in Montana. In other words my lungs had had their share of nasties . I promised to do a follow up when i was out of the hospital. .
So here I am 18 months later and just
had another chest xray. I now know that lung nodules are very common and about 97 out of 100 are benign. I am totally asymptomatic-- I don't cough up blood,don't have wheezing, breathe normally, I also have not had a repiratory infection in four years. I just refused my current doctor's offer to schedule me for a contrast cat scan-- which means injecting me with a dye, then getting the equivalent of 1,200 chest xrays. I just am not into the fear porn of cancer. I also would ever do chemo nor have a biopsy. There are a number of alternative treatnents for cancer which would be my first treatment choice should the need ever arise.
Thanks for sharing that, Eunice. You're smart, and that’s a survival skill in avoiding unnecessary medical intervention. They’ll test you to death, literally.