Proactive approach, "Stage 0"
Hi all, The reason for this post is to encourage patients going through the process to empower themselves by not just taking one answer as the only answer. My journey started in July of 2025 where several ground glass nodules were found on a CT scan being done for another reason. All my doctors told me its nothing, dont worry, just inflammation. I asked to be referred to a pulmonologist and they refused saying there was no reason. I knew in my heart they were wrong. My Dad and my Grandma both had lung cancer. Although I had not smoked for 20ish years, I knew that it was still a risk factor. I took my scan to Fred Hutch lung cancer screening in Seattle and asked for another opinion. They told me that simply by looking at the shape of it, they could tell it was likely very early stage lung cancer. They rescanned me in 3 months, no change. They told me it seemed early and indolent and to come back for another scan in a year. I reached out for two other opinions. one at MD Anderson and one at Virginia Mason in Seattle. The MD Anderson process was a little overwhelming for me and it was the option that was furthest away so I quit the intake process with them. Virginia Mason looked at it and said, "why wait, if you want we can try to.get it all now with a segmentectomy" Even though I felt like such a surgery was agressive being that the actual pathology was unknown I jumped at the chance. At this stage, not many others were going to give me the chance to do this. During surgery, the surgeon found a 2nd rare condition called thoracic endometriosis which could have been the root cause of some of the symptoms I was having that led to the cancer disxovery. It also could have caused other serious issues. He was able to take care of it when he was in there. The pathology came back and out of the 6 nodules, 4 were precancer and 2 were stage 0 lung cancer. I feel good about my choice and feel great that I found doctors willing to be proactive. Who knows if I had just accepted lets watch and wait as an answer how much further along it could go in the next year, or 2, 3 or more. The reason I am posting my story is to encourage the watch amd wait people out there. Dont accept watch and wait as an answer if you would prefer to get it out now. Get a 2nd or 3rd opinion if you dont like the 1st answer. Although it may not be the end of your journey as cancer can recur in a new area etc, it could change the outlook of your existing journey. Best wishes to all out there fighting the fight or taking care of someone who is. Life is precious.