Its taking such a long time...... lung cancer diagnosis

Hi Everyone, I new to this group and I am looking to find out if our experience is similar to anything anyone else has gone through and if anyone can offer any support/advice.  My husband was recently told he had lung cancer (5th Jun) after two chest x-rays and a CT scan.  The next step was to be a biopsy to confirm the type so they could figure out a treatment plan.  However, the first biopsy from a lymph node in his chest did not confirm anything, so he was sent for a PET scan.  PET scan results showed some lymph nodes that were 'lit up' (as well as the mass), including some under his arm, although very small.  So they decided they would do another biopsy under the arm and then also another bronchoscopy to try a different lymph node in the chest this time, further in.  Again (3 weeks after the under arm biopsy and nearly 2 weeks after the broncho one) there was still no confirmation of cancer.  So currently he is formally undiagnosed (even though at the first appt they told us unequivocally that it was cancer).  The next appointment is with a Thoracic surgeon so they can talk to us about a 4th, more invasive, biopsy - this will be on 6th August and we're not sure when the actual procedure will take place yet, at which point we will be 9 weeks down the line.  They have told us that from the scans they are 99.99% sure its cancer, but none of the biopsies have confirmed this yet.  We are so confused.  There is no denying there is a mass there and it has been causing symptoms, but is it normally this difficult to get a diagnosis? The waiting and the passage of time has had a really big impact mentally.  We are both in our 40s and it feels like our world has been turned upside down and thrown into the air.

Has anyone else gone through a similar experience whilst being diagnosed?

  • Hi ElaineDC,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I'm sorry to hear that you have had a long wait for answers. I can see you have posted in the 'Ask the Nurses' section of this forum and received a reply from one of our nurses, which is great.

    Although there's not too much more I can add to that, I wanted to send a reply to your post here to give it a little boost, so a few more people should see it. Hopefully you'll get some more replies soon.

    You can also browse or search the forum (using the bar at the top of the page) for other discussions and people to connect with, if you'd like to.

    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
    Cancer Chat Moderator