chances of lung cancer?

[amirtracy]

hello. my mother died of lung cancer in 1998 @ the age of 58. She was a smoker for 40 years. I too smoked for almost 20 years but quit when she died. My question is, what are the chances that even tho' i no longer smoker i might end up w/ cancer? i have no symptoms and have a recent clean chest x-ray but sometimes i'm overwhelmed w/ depression on this issue. thank you in advance for any input.

[National Jewish]

You will be at increased risk for lung cancer for about 5 years after you quit smoking.  This, in no way, means you will get lung cancer.

The clear chest X-ray at this time is very re-assuring.  If you have a cough that produces sputum, you might ask your doctor to send samples of the mucous for what is called sputum cytology, a cancer screening test.  To ease your anxiety, you should also get an annual chest X-ray for the next 5 years.

Good luck.

[poolnoni]

I lost my mother in 1994 of a stroke cause by her smoking 40+ years. I saw her go from an independent and fiesty woman to a total invalid. You can imagine what this did to her emotionally. I had been a for 18 yrs. when I quit because I was so afraid I would have a stroke and my own children would go through what I went through with my mom. Heaven only knows what else she had that was never diagnosed. The fact that you quit smoking is very good. Just get chest xrays every so often to assure everything is alright. The word CANCER itself is a very scary thing. Good luck.

[sharock]

I'm basing this on information i was given when i quit smoking,i was told that for everyday you remain a none smoker your chances of getting a smoking related illness goes down, and if your remain a none smoker that within 10 yrs your risks are that of a person that has never smoked, i've only quit for 8 months after smoking for 20 or so yrs and i can already feel the benifits,so i'm looking forward to many more years as a non smoker.