Pleural Effusion

[johnsstepkid]

My stepdad has been diagnosed with lung cancer in his left lung and has not yet begun treatment. They are saying that the cancer has not spread but there is some fluid in his right lung that needs to be tested. He went in to have this done today but the ultrasound showed that it was a very small amount and not well-positioned so they did not do the test.

His oncologist is gone for 2 weeks so this means 2 more weeks of really not knowing what is happening, or know what happens next.

I have spent the evening googling pleural effusions and now have a pretty good understanding of what this all might mean... but no where does it mention a situation where there is not enough fluid present for the lab to test.

If anybody out there has been in this situation and could give me any information that might make the next 2 weeks easier for my parents to get through I would appreciate it. Thanks and God Bless all of you, this is dreadful for everyone involved.

[Davy9]

It may be more of a situation where the fluid is more difficult to get to than the test may tell them. If they have a diagnosis they probably know the cause of the effusion. If the effusion itself is not causing problems and it is small and hard to access then they may just leave it alone for the time being. There are complications to pulling off an effusion. One of the greater ones is causing a pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung. The smaller the effusion the greater this potential is because the margin for error is smaller.

[johnsstepkid]

Thank you Davy for replying to my post. I will pass this information along to my parents. Any information is a balm to the numerous times they have been left up in the air during this difficult time. Bless you and have a happy and safe holiday weekend.