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Odds of low grade Ta bladder cancer spreading
I need someone to talk me down. My husband was diagnosed with low grade Ta bladder cancer in Dec 2012. Surgery was done at Northwestern in Chicago by a top uro/ oncologist. followups have been perfect with no recurrences. Surgery was followed with the mitomycin wash. Hubby feeling great.
Now the problem: In april 2013 uro ordered an abdominal CT scan ( he does this for all bladder cancer patients at first follow up checkup), Abdomen looked perfect. The scan incidentally caught lower lungs and a 2 mm micronodule was viewed and marked as an incidental finding. Uro and primary care doc both said these are very common findings especially in people living in Midwest. We are originally from Ohio and i guess histoplasmosis( fungi is super common there and in Ilinois, where we live now) Anyway, they said repeat CT chest scan in 6 months. These nodules are typically followed for a full two years. Scanning at different intervals throughout this time. 6 -12-18-24 months.
Well, last week hubby had a chest CT scsn that showed the 2 mm nodule completely unchanged BUT there is another micronodule 3 mm in upper right that was not viewed on previous scan because it only caught lower lung. There are no other CT scans to compare to. We spoke directly to radiologist who said the odds of a low grade Ta bladder cancer causing lung mets are extremely low. He was not very concerned about the nodules especially since the original 2 mm one hadn’t grown and is “stable”…i assume mets would grow in 10 months? . He said repeat scan in 6 months. I am a wreck and am having trouble eating and sleeping. Husband is calm and said listen to radiologist and doctor who seem not so concerned.
Has this happened to anyone else? The micronodules are super tiny and cannot be biopsied. Also too small for a PET scan. Please, what are the odds of this early type bladder cancer spreading to lungs? HELP.