multiple lung nodules



A recent CT scan revealed that I have four or five nodules scattered
throughout my lungs. The largest is 4mm. Some, but not all, are
calcified.

I am a 37 year old ex-smoker. Smoked for about seven years in my
twenties, two packs a day. For the most part I'm healthy, though I do
have a retinal disease called Punctate Inner Choroidopathy that creates
inflammatory lesions that pretty much chew up your vision. In my case
it created a blood vessel that made me legally blind in my left eye.


My primary physician said that in the vast majority of cases pulmonary
nodules are benign. He made it sound like there really wasn't much to
worry about. We would just have to check them again in four months to
make sure they hadn't grown.

Got home, looked up multiple pulmonary nodules on the web, and now I'm
not so comfortable with this whole thing. From what I gather solitary
pulmonary nodules are most often benign, but multiple nodules are
usually caused by metastatic disease and only rarely are benign. My
primary physician never mentioned a word about metastasis.

I'm a little freaked out. My wife is pregnant with our second child,
and now I'm scared I won't see it turn five. I'm afraid this is
Punctate Inner Choroidopathy all over again, but this time with the
threat being not blindness but early death.

Should I be scared, or am I blowing this thing out of proportion?

Are multiple pulmonary nodules more normal than my findings on the net?


Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time,
Brian

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Relevant Pages

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