A recent chest xray my mom had done to check for metastasis showed no cancer spread but copd or asthma. i'm confused about what xray may have shown?

Chest X-ray : No need to get confused; chest x-ray likely did not show findings of metastatic cancer but just emphysema/copd in lung. It sounds like a good report.

Distended Lung: The findings that were seen on the chest x-ray would include some over-inflation of the lung typically seen in COPD (any smoking history?) or asthma. A much better report than metastatic nodules!