› Forums › General Melanoma Community › CT Scan results from Doctor
- This topic has 21 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 3 months ago by
boot2aboot.
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- October 20, 2011 at 9:42 pm
I had my doctor appt today with Onc. We discussed further about the scans. Basically the Onc was thrilled that I am feeling better after the interferon and wanted me to wait 6 months for a rescan. He asked if I was ready to go back to work. I informed him that I lost my job in July and with the unsure CT results would it be a good idea for me to go try to find a new job. We decided to wait until I rescan. I was adiment about rescans in 3 months instead of 6 and he agreed. He basically goes along with whatever makes me comfortable. I did get a
I had my doctor appt today with Onc. We discussed further about the scans. Basically the Onc was thrilled that I am feeling better after the interferon and wanted me to wait 6 months for a rescan. He asked if I was ready to go back to work. I informed him that I lost my job in July and with the unsure CT results would it be a good idea for me to go try to find a new job. We decided to wait until I rescan. I was adiment about rescans in 3 months instead of 6 and he agreed. He basically goes along with whatever makes me comfortable. I did get a copy of the CT scan on CD and when I schedule a 2nd opinion with U of M Melanoma clinic they will have my original scans to compare from a year ago. Anyway some of this report is somewhat confusing to me. It shows:
3 mm subpleural ground-glass nodule in the left upper lobe laterally. There are no other lung nodules or masses. No pneumothorax.
There is an approximantly 10.8mm hypodensity within the liver in the left hepatic lobe, near the fissure for the ligamentum teres. This is only visual on the portal venous phase images, and therefore likely relates to a benign process such as focal fatty infiltrative change or differential perfision.
A prominent, approx 2.7 cm duodenal diverticulum is suspected. Bowel loops are otherwise unremarkable.
The crazy thing is I didn't get the results in writing until after the appt so I could not ask questions. I will have them for U of M though. My docctor says not to worry but how can I not. I know the original scans did not show any of this. They were clear. We will see.
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- October 20, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Just because they mentions something on a CT report doesn't mean it is anything to worry about. "Fatty" liver deposits are pretty common and benign. If the radiologist thought it was something other than benign, it certainly would have been called out for further study or followup.
If you read this link, it says duodenal diverticulum "may show up by chance" on a CT scan. So one CT may show it and another not. It also doesn't sound like anything to be worried about unless you have symptoms. It certainly doesn't sound melanoma related.
http://www.medicinenet.com/duodenal_diverticulum/article.htm
As for the ground glass nodule, I suspect that is your area of unease and are waiting to see if anything changes. My father has both stage III melanoma and stage I lung cancer and has many ground glass nodules. It's tricky to know what is and isn't an issue, but so far, none of his ground glass nodules have really changed or indicate they are any type of mets.
If your oncologist were really worried about any of these things, he would have discussed them with you. He's still the best person to interpret the results, but it doesn't seem like anything you should be losing sleep over. If you still have questions, CALL YOUR DOCTOR and ask for his explanation. He knows your history best.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- October 20, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Just because they mentions something on a CT report doesn't mean it is anything to worry about. "Fatty" liver deposits are pretty common and benign. If the radiologist thought it was something other than benign, it certainly would have been called out for further study or followup.
If you read this link, it says duodenal diverticulum "may show up by chance" on a CT scan. So one CT may show it and another not. It also doesn't sound like anything to be worried about unless you have symptoms. It certainly doesn't sound melanoma related.
http://www.medicinenet.com/duodenal_diverticulum/article.htm
As for the ground glass nodule, I suspect that is your area of unease and are waiting to see if anything changes. My father has both stage III melanoma and stage I lung cancer and has many ground glass nodules. It's tricky to know what is and isn't an issue, but so far, none of his ground glass nodules have really changed or indicate they are any type of mets.
If your oncologist were really worried about any of these things, he would have discussed them with you. He's still the best person to interpret the results, but it doesn't seem like anything you should be losing sleep over. If you still have questions, CALL YOUR DOCTOR and ask for his explanation. He knows your history best.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- October 21, 2011 at 12:06 pm
The doctor I am currently seeing is not a Melanoma Specialist. I started seeing him when I started Interferon treatments because he is so much closer to me. Half hour drive rather then 2 hour drive. Now that the Interferon treatments are done I know I need to go back to Melanoma Clinic at U of M to make sure I am being followed up on by a specialist. I guess maybe that is why I am nervous. I am not to worried about the CT results and am patiently awaiting my PET scan in January that will look for changes. For now I am going to live life actually feeling good and be thankful for each day that I have feeling good and praying that Melanoma is gone. Thank you so much for your opinion about my results. It is greatly appreciated. Melanoma is a scarry thing to have to live with.
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- October 21, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Karmonos is a good place to get a second opinion Laurie…i was not impressed with UofM…
it pisses me off stage 3'ers still take interferon or god forbid it, biochemo…they should be able to take more effective treatments…just my opinion…
good luck laurie
boots…
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- October 22, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Is Karmonos a name of a doctor or a clinic? What city is it located in? I am defenantly open to subjestions of Melanoma specialists. I was really not impressed with U of M either. I was only offered Interferon when I was diagnosed a June 2010 and nothing else. They actually said Interferon was my only option and at that time I knew nothing. I also was not impresses with the waiting time to have things done. So yes I will check into your subjestion. Thank you so much boots…
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- October 25, 2011 at 6:41 pm
karmanos is in detroit…part of wayne state university…they have a melanoma clinic and lots of clinical trials for mel…much better place than u of m…trust me
boots
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- October 25, 2011 at 6:41 pm
karmanos is in detroit…part of wayne state university…they have a melanoma clinic and lots of clinical trials for mel…much better place than u of m…trust me
boots
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- October 25, 2011 at 6:41 pm
karmanos is in detroit…part of wayne state university…they have a melanoma clinic and lots of clinical trials for mel…much better place than u of m…trust me
boots
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- October 22, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Is Karmonos a name of a doctor or a clinic? What city is it located in? I am defenantly open to subjestions of Melanoma specialists. I was really not impressed with U of M either. I was only offered Interferon when I was diagnosed a June 2010 and nothing else. They actually said Interferon was my only option and at that time I knew nothing. I also was not impresses with the waiting time to have things done. So yes I will check into your subjestion. Thank you so much boots…
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- October 22, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Is Karmonos a name of a doctor or a clinic? What city is it located in? I am defenantly open to subjestions of Melanoma specialists. I was really not impressed with U of M either. I was only offered Interferon when I was diagnosed a June 2010 and nothing else. They actually said Interferon was my only option and at that time I knew nothing. I also was not impresses with the waiting time to have things done. So yes I will check into your subjestion. Thank you so much boots…
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- October 21, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Karmonos is a good place to get a second opinion Laurie…i was not impressed with UofM…
it pisses me off stage 3'ers still take interferon or god forbid it, biochemo…they should be able to take more effective treatments…just my opinion…
good luck laurie
boots…
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- October 21, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Karmonos is a good place to get a second opinion Laurie…i was not impressed with UofM…
it pisses me off stage 3'ers still take interferon or god forbid it, biochemo…they should be able to take more effective treatments…just my opinion…
good luck laurie
boots…
-
- October 21, 2011 at 12:06 pm
The doctor I am currently seeing is not a Melanoma Specialist. I started seeing him when I started Interferon treatments because he is so much closer to me. Half hour drive rather then 2 hour drive. Now that the Interferon treatments are done I know I need to go back to Melanoma Clinic at U of M to make sure I am being followed up on by a specialist. I guess maybe that is why I am nervous. I am not to worried about the CT results and am patiently awaiting my PET scan in January that will look for changes. For now I am going to live life actually feeling good and be thankful for each day that I have feeling good and praying that Melanoma is gone. Thank you so much for your opinion about my results. It is greatly appreciated. Melanoma is a scarry thing to have to live with.
-
- October 21, 2011 at 12:06 pm
The doctor I am currently seeing is not a Melanoma Specialist. I started seeing him when I started Interferon treatments because he is so much closer to me. Half hour drive rather then 2 hour drive. Now that the Interferon treatments are done I know I need to go back to Melanoma Clinic at U of M to make sure I am being followed up on by a specialist. I guess maybe that is why I am nervous. I am not to worried about the CT results and am patiently awaiting my PET scan in January that will look for changes. For now I am going to live life actually feeling good and be thankful for each day that I have feeling good and praying that Melanoma is gone. Thank you so much for your opinion about my results. It is greatly appreciated. Melanoma is a scarry thing to have to live with.
-
- October 20, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Just because they mentions something on a CT report doesn't mean it is anything to worry about. "Fatty" liver deposits are pretty common and benign. If the radiologist thought it was something other than benign, it certainly would have been called out for further study or followup.
If you read this link, it says duodenal diverticulum "may show up by chance" on a CT scan. So one CT may show it and another not. It also doesn't sound like anything to be worried about unless you have symptoms. It certainly doesn't sound melanoma related.
http://www.medicinenet.com/duodenal_diverticulum/article.htm
As for the ground glass nodule, I suspect that is your area of unease and are waiting to see if anything changes. My father has both stage III melanoma and stage I lung cancer and has many ground glass nodules. It's tricky to know what is and isn't an issue, but so far, none of his ground glass nodules have really changed or indicate they are any type of mets.
If your oncologist were really worried about any of these things, he would have discussed them with you. He's still the best person to interpret the results, but it doesn't seem like anything you should be losing sleep over. If you still have questions, CALL YOUR DOCTOR and ask for his explanation. He knows your history best.
Best wishes,
Janner
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- October 22, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I am Stage 4 NED
My CT in June results were: Abd/Pelvic
Stable small puncatate hypodense lesion in the superior right hepatic lobe near the dome and 1.3 cm hypodense lesion along the anterior aspect of the left lobe of the liver. Stable 1.5cm left adrenal gland nodule. Stable hypodense lesions of the bilateral kidnesys which may represent small renal cyst. No new lymph nodes enlarged by CT size criteria identified in the abdomen or pelvic. No new focal lesions are present in the liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas or adrenal glands.
The rest explains the site of my thoracotomy and that I have diverticula in the colon ( which I had before all this junk started)
The impression is no significant change from my last scan and scans before…"No difinite evidence of new metastic disease is identified".
They would boot me from the trial if I had ANY disease because my trial is specifically for people with resected melanoma who are NED.
The most recent one basically says the same. I brought up the adrenal cyst to the endo doc and he is going to do an ultrasound on Oct 31. That cyst came during my clinicial trial and my onc says it could be due to the Anti PD 1 as well as my blasted thyroid trouble…yet I am NED and stage 4…so the issues remain small… I don't complain about all the small stuff because its an awesome trade off considering I am alive and still standing. I guess we are all going to experience issues given the treatments we are on. We are the most scanned people in the world and I am sure people without melanoma and cancer and have never been scanned probably have alot of lesions and cysts unknown to them.
The liver lesions also concerns me so I mentioned it at my last visit. My onc was in China but the NP said she was going to bring it up to the tumor board. She said no one believes it is melanoma but she wanted to get their opinions.
I did go back to work full time in Feb. Best thing I ever did. When I was diagnosed and given the prognosis of 6-9 months I thought I was history. Been through a lot…but sitting at home waiting for the reaper was no benefit either. All I had was time to think myself into depression and feeling sorry for myself. I have been NED for nearly 1 1/2 years ( darn that sounds so good). Besides they cut benefits when you are NED after so long, so I thought I best go back to work…
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- October 25, 2011 at 6:49 pm
glad you were able to get into this anti PD study…dr weber wanted me on this until my HLA blood type was discovered…it truly pisses me off when they narrow it down to HLA 2 for most of these trials…what about all us 'caucasians' with throw back genes?????
boots
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- October 25, 2011 at 6:49 pm
glad you were able to get into this anti PD study…dr weber wanted me on this until my HLA blood type was discovered…it truly pisses me off when they narrow it down to HLA 2 for most of these trials…what about all us 'caucasians' with throw back genes?????
boots
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- October 25, 2011 at 6:49 pm
glad you were able to get into this anti PD study…dr weber wanted me on this until my HLA blood type was discovered…it truly pisses me off when they narrow it down to HLA 2 for most of these trials…what about all us 'caucasians' with throw back genes?????
boots
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- October 22, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I am Stage 4 NED
My CT in June results were: Abd/Pelvic
Stable small puncatate hypodense lesion in the superior right hepatic lobe near the dome and 1.3 cm hypodense lesion along the anterior aspect of the left lobe of the liver. Stable 1.5cm left adrenal gland nodule. Stable hypodense lesions of the bilateral kidnesys which may represent small renal cyst. No new lymph nodes enlarged by CT size criteria identified in the abdomen or pelvic. No new focal lesions are present in the liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas or adrenal glands.
The rest explains the site of my thoracotomy and that I have diverticula in the colon ( which I had before all this junk started)
The impression is no significant change from my last scan and scans before…"No difinite evidence of new metastic disease is identified".
They would boot me from the trial if I had ANY disease because my trial is specifically for people with resected melanoma who are NED.
The most recent one basically says the same. I brought up the adrenal cyst to the endo doc and he is going to do an ultrasound on Oct 31. That cyst came during my clinicial trial and my onc says it could be due to the Anti PD 1 as well as my blasted thyroid trouble…yet I am NED and stage 4…so the issues remain small… I don't complain about all the small stuff because its an awesome trade off considering I am alive and still standing. I guess we are all going to experience issues given the treatments we are on. We are the most scanned people in the world and I am sure people without melanoma and cancer and have never been scanned probably have alot of lesions and cysts unknown to them.
The liver lesions also concerns me so I mentioned it at my last visit. My onc was in China but the NP said she was going to bring it up to the tumor board. She said no one believes it is melanoma but she wanted to get their opinions.
I did go back to work full time in Feb. Best thing I ever did. When I was diagnosed and given the prognosis of 6-9 months I thought I was history. Been through a lot…but sitting at home waiting for the reaper was no benefit either. All I had was time to think myself into depression and feeling sorry for myself. I have been NED for nearly 1 1/2 years ( darn that sounds so good). Besides they cut benefits when you are NED after so long, so I thought I best go back to work…
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- October 22, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I am Stage 4 NED
My CT in June results were: Abd/Pelvic
Stable small puncatate hypodense lesion in the superior right hepatic lobe near the dome and 1.3 cm hypodense lesion along the anterior aspect of the left lobe of the liver. Stable 1.5cm left adrenal gland nodule. Stable hypodense lesions of the bilateral kidnesys which may represent small renal cyst. No new lymph nodes enlarged by CT size criteria identified in the abdomen or pelvic. No new focal lesions are present in the liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas or adrenal glands.
The rest explains the site of my thoracotomy and that I have diverticula in the colon ( which I had before all this junk started)
The impression is no significant change from my last scan and scans before…"No difinite evidence of new metastic disease is identified".
They would boot me from the trial if I had ANY disease because my trial is specifically for people with resected melanoma who are NED.
The most recent one basically says the same. I brought up the adrenal cyst to the endo doc and he is going to do an ultrasound on Oct 31. That cyst came during my clinicial trial and my onc says it could be due to the Anti PD 1 as well as my blasted thyroid trouble…yet I am NED and stage 4…so the issues remain small… I don't complain about all the small stuff because its an awesome trade off considering I am alive and still standing. I guess we are all going to experience issues given the treatments we are on. We are the most scanned people in the world and I am sure people without melanoma and cancer and have never been scanned probably have alot of lesions and cysts unknown to them.
The liver lesions also concerns me so I mentioned it at my last visit. My onc was in China but the NP said she was going to bring it up to the tumor board. She said no one believes it is melanoma but she wanted to get their opinions.
I did go back to work full time in Feb. Best thing I ever did. When I was diagnosed and given the prognosis of 6-9 months I thought I was history. Been through a lot…but sitting at home waiting for the reaper was no benefit either. All I had was time to think myself into depression and feeling sorry for myself. I have been NED for nearly 1 1/2 years ( darn that sounds so good). Besides they cut benefits when you are NED after so long, so I thought I best go back to work…
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