Another person fighting SCLC....

INFORMATICS
INFORMATICS Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
Hello everyone,

My father was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer about 11 months ago. I have never had to deal with anyone in my family having cancer before, especially lung cancer. I am very nervous and have no idea what to expect in the near and distant future.

What do all different stages of lung cancer mean? How sever is stage four cancer? With this stage are my fathers days numbered? If chemotherapy is the only option for my father does this mean that he will only live as long as his body can handle the medicine?

My father is a very proud man and does not like to open up about much and in particular on his health.I can not get much information about what the doctors are telling him unless I really hound him and that's just not me. He has enough going on dealing with all of this.

I have scanned the internet and found everything from very broad answers to everything else that I really didn't want to hear... Most of the stuff was just very inconsistent.

I would really appreciate any time that someone can give in response to my request for help on this terrible disease.

-Concerned son

Comments

  • mamacita5
    mamacita5 Member Posts: 254 Member
    #2
    Stick with the discussion board!
    Stop searching the internet and stick with this board. We are the ones LIVING it. You are getting information that may be outdated and based on numbers that may be several years old. There are loads of survivors here that have been dx stage 4. See what they have to say and don't panic. I am newly diagnosed too and was scared out of my mind until I found this group. I would say if you need more information on types, stages and things like that stick with American Cancer Society info which you can access right from this site. Hang in there kiddo...
    Anita
  • INFORMATICS
    INFORMATICS Member Posts: 2
    #3
    mamacita5 said:

    Stick with the discussion board!
    Stop searching the internet and stick with this board. We are the ones LIVING it. You are getting information that may be outdated and based on numbers that may be several years old. There are loads of survivors here that have been dx stage 4. See what they have to say and don't panic. I am newly diagnosed too and was scared out of my mind until I found this group. I would say if you need more information on types, stages and things like that stick with American Cancer Society info which you can access right from this site. Hang in there kiddo...
    Anita

    Thanks Anita. I am glad to
    Thanks Anita. I am glad to hear that everything went well with your surgery and I wish you the best in your recovery.

    I agree with you and I will try and stay off the web for answers.

    Thank you for stopping and sending some positive information my way.
  • Glenna M
    Glenna M Member Posts: 1,576
    #4
    I agree with Anita
    Anita is right - if you browse the internet for information you will read information that is so outdated that it will only cause undo concern. I was diagnosed a year ago this month and immediately googled every website there was concerning the types of cancer I have. Then I found this website - it was a life saver!!! My doctors also told me to stay off the internet because the info you get is WRONG. The library at the cancer center where I am being treated is where I got the web address for this site so I figured it must be pretty good.

    Just hearing that your father has stage 4 is enough to scare anyone but if you read the posts on this forum you will see that many people are doing quite well and have been survivors of stage 4 lung cancer for years. Stage 4 DOES NOT automatically mean your fathers days are numbered. The chemo I received (cisplatin) shrank my tumors considerably after just one session.

    I don't have stage 4, instead they discovered I have 2 different types of cancer - NSCLC in my left lung and SCC of the larynx. The doctors told me that having one cancer is bad enough but to have to fight two different types of cancer at the same time is very serious. I am now 8 months post treatment and doing great!!! The doctors told me they couldn't cure either of my cancers but they were very confident that I would be in remission for many, many years. I have had 2 CT scans and both came back showing that the tumors had shrunk and I am still in remission. The tumor in my lung shrank so much that they can't find it now, they said that if it was still there it was so small that it was hiding behind the scar tissue ;-)

    I can understand how hard this must be on you since your father isn't giving you much information. Have you tried sitting him down and explaining to him how worried you are about him and his not sharing information with you is causing you even more stress and worry. Sometimes parents want to protect their children too much.

    My best to you and your father,
    Glenna

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