Mum had CT Scan worried sick

Hi as anyone been through anything similar my mum has severe copd she went for a chest x-ray which showed a shadow on the lung she had a chest infection at the time so they gave antibiotics and repeated the chest x-ray two weeks later, the chest infection has now gone but the shadow is still there so they referred her for a CT scan which shes had today, we got there she was in an out within 20mins and they didnt need to put the dye in her they didnt tell us anything and said she would have the results within a week i hate all this waiting am going out of my mind with worry i suffer from anxiety and depression i cant sleep for worrying, they havent said what theyre looking for are they almost always looking for cancer with these or is there other problems that can cause that? Anyone had anything similar? TIA

  • Welcome to the forum LCookie14 although I'm sorry for the reason you're joining us.

    Waiting for results is always tough as many of our members here have found out so I'm sure those who have been in a similar situation to your mum will pop by when they can to offer their support and advice.

    I hope this information I've found online will help you through this anxious time as well.

    Best wishes to you both,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Hi Lcookie14,

    Sorry for what you're going through. I also had a chest Xray which showed a vague shape, then I had a follow-up Xray, but the shape was still there so I was given a CT scan. Waiting for the results was the worst part - my results took exactly 2 weeks. After 2 weeks I phoned my GP to chase them up, and later that day I got the results.

    You wrote "they havent said what they're looking for", but the radiologist who looks at the CT scan isn't looking for a specific thing. The radiologist will carefully examine the CT scan with an open mind, and will report back on any abnormality of any type.

    Unfortunately, they can't tell you much when they do the CT scan, because the people doing the scan are radiographers not radiologists. The radiographers are experts in capturing an image that is as clear as possible, but it's not their job to interpret the image.

    I hope your waiting is over soon!

    Roger.