Nodes found in lungs during an MRI of the GI tract. Does this mean cancer?

Thanks so much for all your answers. I’m a little spooked about this but I think I can handle whatever happens. But yes, I have a right to know. Many of us live on top of a health volcano and happiness can be found there too!

I really get a lot out of this site. Thanks again to all!!!

It is no longer in style for docs to withhold info from patients like that. Oh yeah, it used to be. Thanks to HIPAA it is a big deal to even discuss anything with anyone but you any more. I would say do NOT assume that they have the report and would have called you or should have called you about this (like my mom used to do... ) - if you have an online patient portal, ask for info, if not call on Monday and persist. Information gets lost and patient concerns fall through the cracks in a myriad of ways these days because there are a lot more cracks in the system too.

HolidayEnd, So sorry to hear that it is YOU that has the "Nodes found in lungs" :(

Because it is you, I would suggest, as others have, to contact your Primary Care Doctor and let him know what the gastrointestinal specialist found. Even if it was the PCP who told you the results of the MRI, I think that you need more information and more tests done.

Sorry that your family is the type that refuses to tell the patient what is wrong with them. You need to let your PCP know that NO MATTER WHAT, YOU HAVE TO BE TOLD what is wrong with you--even when your relatives tell the doctor "Do NOT tell her"--"because your relatives have decided the patient (you) couldn’t handle it." I think that your relatives are saying that because THEY CANNOT handle hearing the truth about what is wrong with the patient and THEY want to avoid the feelings and outbursts that can occur once the patient knows his/her diagnosis.

Please talk to your PCP as soon as possible. The "intractable nausea and vomiting" can be related to the nodes and are definitely symptoms of something major problem. It is in your BEST INTEREST to find out more about your health problem. God Bless.

It’s my own lungs. My dad’s are fine. We were both smokers in our youth. I’ve been quit 25 years. He has been caught smoking outside during the last 30 years, so him? He might have smoked a tiny bit during that time.

He also was in the end of WWII and I don’t see how either of us could have avoided asbestos and other chemicals during our lives.

But yeah, the daughter is potentially sick. :-(

The original complaint was intractable nausea and vomiting and the doctor was a gastrointestinal specialist. While doing an MRI of my lungs and diaphragm (swallow test too I believe) they found the nodules. 

I wonder if doctors think we can’t handle knowing the truth because we’ll just flip out? I had elder relatives who NEVER WERE told what they had and in the end it killed them. Instead other relatives were informed and doc and relatives decided the patient couldn’t handle it. I have a strange family.

I have NO trust in the medical system. I know them. They fear patients feelings and outbursts.

"Nodes," implying lymph nodes would be near the center of the body or hilum of the lung and can be from infections rather than cancer. So can "nodules," but nodules are more likely cancer. Devil is in the details and waiting for a repeat study is not that bad an idea, wish they would explain better. Did they do a TB test?

Agree you need a better explanation than "nodes"
Your father's general condition may also explain why everything was left hanging.
Why was the MRI ordered in the first place.

Ask whichever doctor ordered the scan to explain the results to you. I *think* there are probably plenty of possible explanations for enlarged lymph nodes but amateur guesses are no good to you at all. Besides, you've paid for this scan, and that fee should include telling you what it says.

Holiday, what kind of doctor ordered and interpreted the MRI? Do you know if it was referred to an oncologist for review? I think that would be my first step, to ask, and if the answer is no, consider researching oncologists and consult one, with the request that the MRI be reviewed as well.

What specific lung disease does your father have? COPD? Emphysema? Was there ever any concern of cancer developing?

Some of the medical people here could offer better insight than I, but I would be concerned enough to get an interpretation beyond just being told of their existence.

If the oncologist doesn't have access to the MRI, you can get a CD of it from the company that performed it, or from medical records if it was done at a hospital.

I'd also follow up with the radiologist or whoever interpreted it - the "meaning" of the node presence in the lungs SHOULD be addressed and explained now, as to possibilities. I wouldn't wait another 4 months. In fact, I wouldn't wait another week.

Was your father a smoker? Worked in an industry that exposed him to asbestos? Served in the military and worked in occupations that also exposed him to asbestos? Worked with insulation, or vehicle brakes?

My sister's cancer eventually metastasized to her lungs, compromising them so much that she couldn't effectively breathe; pneumonia developed and was a causative factor (besides the metastasis) to her death.

I'd put this on a high priority list to investigate.

Was this your mother or your father that had the MRI of the GI tract? If it was your father who has lung disease than I can understand why the order was for him to "return every 4 months for another MRI to see if they are growing". Apparently the doctor considers the nodes to be part of your father's lung disease.

As to whether the nodes are cancerous or not, that is something that you need to ask your father's doctor.

Anyone else gotten a surprise while having another problem investigated by doctors? OH, YES!!!! Diabetes is often found this way--when no one expects it. There have been many stories about how a person went in to see the doctor for one health problem and ended up being treated for a health problem that neither they nor the doctor was expecting. For example: complaining of stomach/intestinal cramps or back pain and finding out that you are in labor? Or seeing a doctor because you are getting fat for no reason and you find out that you are pregnant? Or seeing a doctor for double vision and having surgery within 12 hours for a huge brain tumor. Or complaining of a buzzing in your ear, and having the ER Doctor find a bug stuck in your ear canal. YUCK!!

Please let us know whether it is your father or your mother that you are talking about . Thanks.