allergy symptoms or cancer symptoms? - Cancer: Lung Message Board

eblguim · 03-18-2007, 01:29 PM

I've posted before about my husband.
It was found he has multiple small nodules in both lungs. He decided not to do the biopsy since he doesn't want to have chemo or radiation. the doctors think it is metastisis from the kidney cancer he had 11 years ago.
He has no common symptoms of lung cancer - no cough, chest pain, weight loss, fever, loss of apetite, fatigue, etc. He is apparently normal. He also had a massive pleural effusion - that we thought could be from a bad fall but that the doctors think is from the cancer - to resolve on it's own.
The "diagnosis" was in the end of november.
Now he started developing what looks like allergies - stuffy nose, sneezing, red nose, itchy throat.
We are both wondering if these are also signs of lung cancer.
Does anyone have these kind of symptoms instead of the normal ones?
Thank you so much for any answers. I'm always worried from the sneezes and nose blowing all the time.

Janmarie2 · 03-18-2007, 06:18 PM

I've never heard of those sympotms being related to Lung cancer. Lung cancer is a lower respiratory disease while the symptoms you describe are upper respiratory. Maybe he has developed and allergy to something or has a sinus infection or possibly the cancer could have spread to some place in the sinuses. Those would be my guesses.

The sad truth to lung cancer is alot of people get to stage IV without showing alot of what we consider the common symptoms. I am a little confused about a masive pleural effusion resolving on its own if it is due to the cancer . My mom and others here had to have a procedure called a pleurodesis done to stop or try to stop the effusions as they would do a thorocentesis to drain it and within a week it would come back. Sometimes if you are getting treatment and the tumors shrink it will clear up on its own but if there is no treatment I would think you would need to have it drained as if it is massive it can be very uncomfortable and cause alot of shortness of breath. So for comfort reasons they would drian it. It is not a difficult procedure as they numb the area and poke a large needle in between the ribs and draw fluid off it can be done in the doctors office and they can run tests and see if there are cancer cells in the fluid.

Cancer is nastey business and I will send prayers your husbands way, JanMarie

eblguim · 03-18-2007, 07:12 PM

Thank you for your answer.
Yes, we are puzzled about the whole thing.
The effusion was covering about 3/4 of his lung and he couldn't do anything. He just slept all day and just cuting his own food was too much effort. He couldn't breathe and was very uncomfortable.
The doctor tried to take the fluid out but since the effusion was loculated, not much would come out. So they sent my husband to a thoraxic surgeon that ordered the ct and found the multiple nodules. By that time, one month from the start, he was feeling better and decided to wait. And one month after that he had another x-ray and the fluid was almost all gone. He feels fine, so we think it might be all gone now.
The doctor also said the effusion would not go down on it's own, but now they just say they don't know.
I haven't thought about it spreading to his sinus, but I wonder if someone with metastisis to the lungs from the kidney, that is spreading to the sinus, wouldn't it at least cause him to loose some weight? Or feel tired?
Anyhow, I guess everything is possible.