lung spot

my mom (age 77)  had surgery recently. with general anesthesia. just before being
discharched dr. had a x-ray of chest to verify for fluid in the lung. I guess this could happen after
general anesthesia. Well they x-ray showed a spot in the lung. The dr that look at it said it could be
fluid in the lung but was not sure. Sugested a scan of the lung.

Now I'm terrified that could be cancer. Mom never  smoked, there is NO history of any kind
of cancer in the family.

[National Jewish Health]

A CT scan is the right thing to do.  You should try to locate previous chest x-rays and retrieve them for comparison with your mom’s present x-rays, or second best would be to obtain the reports of previous chest x-rays for comparison.  It is way too early to start worrying about possible lung cancer, especially since we don't know anything about the size or shape.  There is the possibility that it could just be a small fluid collection.  If there is time prior to the lung scan, ask her doctor what the radiologist believes is the most likely diagnosis.  Never having smoked, shifts the odds far in her favor.