My 80 year old mother was experiencing a chronic cough that has gotten worse and is worse when she lies down at night. She also has shortness of breath, chest pain and back pain. All symptoms are getting progressively worse. Instead of her primary starting a workup other than general lab work, he has chosen to send her directly to a cardiothoracic surgeon without doing even a chest X-ray. She is relatively healthy, has hypertension and type 2 diabetes and is overweight. Any reason why her doc would choose this path. She is a non-smoker but grew up in a bar and around passive smoke. We are really concerned that he is looking for lung cancer?be
Hello rearward welcome to Chat Doctor.come have evaluated your query in details .* The chronic cough and shortness of breath at 80 must be first evaluated for emphysema or obstructive lung disease with x-ray chest and other supportive data rather than jumping to cardiothoracic surgeon.* It does not indicate lung cancer at all. Hope this will help to clear your doubt . Wishing you fine recovery. Always welcome for any further assistance anytime. Regards .