It's Not Cancer!

I decided I couldn't wait until the end of the month to hear about my PET scan results so I called my Dr. to get the results. The nurse read the report to me and the nodule in my lung is benign!

My body still doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me though. On my ride last night after work we were heading back on a flat road with a really good tail wind. I was in front and we were going 20 mph. I didn't feel like I was working hard at all. My breathing was rhythmic, not labored. I decided to check my heart rate monitor. It said 193!! I immediately thought I was getting interference from another rider so I pulled away from them - nope, still 193. I did check my pulse in my neck to confirm the high heart rate and it was correct. So I just soft pedaled...my heart rate stayed in the 180s but eventually dropped into the 170s in the last quarter mile. Once I was back in my car headed home it was back down to 75. What is going on here?!? I'm 45 years old - I didn't even think my max heart rate would go that high.

yay! Good news!

What's the next step?

Thank goodness. What a relief that must be.

But shame on your doctor's office for not calling you as soon as the radiology report came in.

That is fabulous news! YAY!!

As for your heartrate, I'm no professional, but I know that each person is different, and a high heart rate may not indicate any problem at all. It sounds like you felt fine, so why worry?

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

What wonderful news!!!!

congratulations, that is phenomenal news. i know that the waiting is horrendous and wonder why you had to take it upon yourself to get the results, why wasn't the dr wanting to give them to you as soon as they got them?

i work in oncology actually and additionally right now, i'm guiding my oldest sibling through the maze of treatment and test for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. so it hits a bit home for me, and i can't imagine why any health care professional would put you through waiting for results such as that.

good for you, glad you got such great news!

yay! It's always nice to hear good news!

Great news! And like the others said, I wouldn't worry about the heart rate as long as you felt well.

Wonderful news!

I hope your symptoms disappear!

Karen

Great news, what a relief!

What a relief <WHEW> !!!!!!

Thanks everyone. It was such a relief. It's hard to believe that doctors' offices don't contact the patients to let them know about tests like these...at least mine doesn't. I appreciate all of you who encouraged me to get the tests done and be my own advocate. It was very good advice.

Possegal - I hope it all works out well for your sibling. Prayers.

That is such great news. I had lost track of your thread and forgot about the nodule. And I'm surprised they didn't call you...when I was waiting for pathology results I was so scared, it was like my life was on hold to see what was up. When they called me (on a weekend, the nurse was at the office doing catch-up when the results came in and she called just so I could have a good weekend) I cried.

Re the HR. Dunno. Mine's been known to get up that high but only briefly and very rarely. Have you been exercising? If not, maybe your body is just trying to get back into things. 180 for me is normal, that'd be the highest point of most workouts.

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Originally Posted by teigyr

Re the HR. Dunno. Mine's been known to get up that high but only briefly and very rarely. Have you been exercising? If not, maybe your body is just trying to get back into things. 180 for me is normal, that'd be the highest point of most workouts.

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May I ask how old you are? Using the "formula" my max HR should be around 175. I know that is just an estimate.

Normally I wouldn't be concerned but since I'm still have chest pains I've been keeping a closer eye on my heart rate. I've continued to ride my bike through all of this so I don't think it's a matter of getting back into things. It's just that I wasn't working hard at all and the times when I do feel like I'm working hard my heart rate is in the upper 170s, NOT 193. Given the amount of work I was doing at the time this just seems way too high to me.

I did see 187 two or three times way back when when I felt like I was about to die...so why would it be 193 when I wasn't even working hard?

Whew!! :)