Those of us who are forever patients are scanned all the time. We lovingly/sarcastically/mournfully call this process “scan, treat, repeat.” Because of these regular scans, things that would never have been known about the interior workings of our bodies are known and become a potential issue, at least inside my head. I can’t say that I’ve gotten better at dealing with these extra weird things in the last 4 years but at least I don’t always immediately jump to “it’s a met” and dwell there too much; actually, for the record, I still do that.

Enter a lung opacity in my right lung, 1.6 cm x 1.6 cm.

This lung opacity, which is likely filled with fluid and has bubbles in it (a/k/a cavitations), showed up on my March, 2021 PET scan and caused some consternation. The consensus between my medical oncologist and the radiation oncologist who was then treating…