coughing up pure white phlegm

[Sandybeach51]

I'm writing on belhalf of my 85y.o mother. she has had a lesion on the lungs for many years. Hasn't smoked for over 15 years. This lesion has never caused her any problems at all.
Mother is very healthy for her age, but has trouble walking after her hip operation.
She takes fluid tablets, but every now and then she coughs up pure white phlegm.
Has anyone ever heard of this?

[Ali5494]

I frequently cough up "pure white sticky mucus. This is a relatively new thing and it has become a concern as prior to coughing it up I always get a perfume or soapy taste in the back of my throat. (Please do not insult my intelligence by asking if I had applied perfume or got soap in my mouth)
I have for a very long time coughed up a nasty colored mucus due to being a smoker, so this is a real shock to me. Do you have any suggestions with credible origins that might explain this?
Your response will be greatly appreciated
Alice.

[walkingspots]

In 2003 I had a lesion on my left lung.  It even had fingers growing from it.  I went through chest xray, that's where they found it, then CT Scan and then a pet scan because they couldn't tell for sure if it was malignant or not.  Even with a pet scan they couldn't tell.  But, was having trouble breathing, even coughing up blood and pain in chest and in back.  Well, they decided it should come out, thinking it might be malignant, it turned out to be necrotizing granuloma, so they took the whole top half of my lung because when they got in there it was larger than they thought.  But, thank my lucky stars it wasn't not malignant at all.  But, they couldn't tell unless they went in and took it out to be tested.  That's just my story.  But, I would definately have more tests!  Good luck and keep us posted.
Marcia

[Dennis MD]

Hi.
Can you elaborate more on your mother’s lung lesion?  There is a possibility that her coughing and the lung lesion are related.  Lesions in the lung can produce chronic cough with some sputum (phlegm) production.  An acute respiratory tract infection can also produce this symptom.
Appropriate treatment will be given once the cause is determined, whether there is a need to start her on an antimicrobial or not.  
Good luck.