I’m 26 and I’m scared I have lung cancer

I’m 26 and I’m really scared I have lung cancer. I went to my GP last week because I had a cough for about 3 weeks and coughing up nasty phlegm so he sent me for a chest x Ray. The x ray showed a shadow at the top of my left lung. I’ve now been for a CT scan and again it shows the thing at the top of the ling but no one is saying anything. I am now on strong antibiotics but have a bronchoscopy booked for next Tuesday. I’m really worried that they are looking for cancer and just not saying it yet because I would just not cope with it. 

Does anyone know of a similar experience that turned out to not be cancer or should I prep for the worst? 

  • Hi there ... I know it's so scary waiting for tests ... I had shadow on my lung from an x ray ... but it was o.k .. just infection set right in ... so they are just doing everything quickly and checking, there's more chance of it being o.k ... so don't panic .. your age is on your side as it is rare, not impossible ...

    My first 4 call backs were all o.k and I'd panicked for nothing .. you will probably have to wait for results after too .. so try to keep as busy as poss ... we've all been there, so we know how it feels ...

    But fingers crossed your will be o.k ... Chrissie x

  • Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate your reassurance.

    Its really hard once you have allowed your mind to go to the idea of cancer. It’s almost as if you need someone to disprove it because I’ve already diagnosed myself with the terrible assistance of Dr Google. 

    I feel otherwise well other than the pain in my back and still coughing up nasty stuff. 

    Im really hoping this bronchoscopy will show a good old infection and nothing more scary. 

    Thank you again. 

  • Hi there ... Please don't just Google symptoms ... They come up with every scary sinario you can imagine ...  I know when that word cancer pops into your head , it fills it and turns your world upside down ... And it keeps saying "what if" and it spirels out of control ...

    So do the best you can ... Try to do "normal things" to keep in the now and push the "what ifs" away ... Would love to keep in touch and know how it goes ... Chrissie x

  • I know I need to stop with the panicking but one of the doctors just called to say that my sputum (phlegm) sample has come back with no bugs? in it. They said it could still be an infection and that’s what they think it will be but why no bugs? 

    If it’s not an infection this is what’s causing me all the worry. I don’t know what else it could be than the worst option. 

    Im so worried but the doctors seem so chill about it. Its literally the most torturous wait for an answer I’ve ever experienced!! 

  • Hi there ...

    That's a really good sign ... so it looks really hopefull ... do you smoke ... coz I know that can cause a lot of phlegm... if not ... maybe they can give you some anti biotics to stop whatever is causing it ...

    I'm sure if there was anything cancerous in there they would have picked it up ... so you can always get to see your g.p and explain why your still worried ... Chrissie  ....

  • Hey. 

    Yeah the doctors are really tying to keep me calm and  saying they are looking for an infection but can’t 100% say it’s not something more sinister until they have done the bronchoscopy. 

    Im an ex smoker. I was never really a smoker through. Only ever socially and now not at all. 

    Ive got my appointment through for my bronchoscopy on Tuesday so just trying to stay distracted until I get the results from that because I’m getting myself all wound up thinking of bad things. 

    Thank you again 

  • Just thought I would update this post on my outcome for any other person that might be going through the same concerns. 

    I had my appointment for the outcome of my bronchoscopy and it turns out I have pneumonia and nothing more serious. Course of antibiotics and won’t be discharged until they get a clear x Ray but nothing more serious. 

    Posting for anyone going though bad anxiety about an x ray or ct scan result. Dr Google really really does not help and you will end up looking at the very worst case scenario. I even looked at x Rays that kind of looked like mine with no radiology experience and made my own bad conclusions. It makes the wait a lot longer trying to draw your own conclusions. 

    Good luck to anyone and everyone on this forum. Thank you for advice given xxx

  • Im 28 and been suffering with chest pains for a year now. I had an xray today and stupidly asked if I could look at it. What I saw has scared the living daylights out of me and I'm honestly expecting someone to call me back tomorrow. The parts of my lungs where the air enters (lymph nodes I think) was extremely white and branched out further into my lungs. I'm glad you said that about Google. I've been googling lung cancer xray images and comparing and I generally think that my xray showed worse results than what I'm seeing on the net. Anxiety is an understatement

     

     

  • Hi crazy cat- I'm going through the exact same thing. Can you tell me what the back pain was like please. Did it fee kind of muscular?

    Any info would be much appreciated as anxiety on high alert x 

  • Hi folks, sorry I haven't logged in here for a long time as I was lucky enough to find out I had a bad case of pneumonia and antibiotics cleared it up. 
     

    my back pain did feel muscular, when I stretched and pulled my shoulders back I could feel the pain more. Also when I took deep breaths I could feel back in my back. 
     

    I was in a bad way with anxiety when this happened to me and it's so hard to say anything to make that stop... but my only advice as annoying as it sounds... try not to worry until you have something to worry about. 
     

    no one ever mentioned cancer to me, but I managed to get there myself and worry myself sick when I had a lung infection.  
     

    Stay calm if you can and I hope everything works out well xx