please need some advice and feedback asap. NSCLC stage IV

beleiver1589
beleiver1589 Member Posts: 5
in Lung Cancer #1
Hi, Im just tying to get some information and feed back. My mothers fiance has been diagnosed with non small cell lung cancer and has 5 small brain lesions. The tumor is in his left lower bronchos i beleive. The biopsy says it is 1.1x0.2less0.1 centimeter, But then also says no size of tumor because of its involving of the bronchitis. He is currently having radiation to his brain for the lesions and then they are planning on doing radiation and chemotherapy to the tumor in his lung. Im wondering if you think he has a chance at all or if it sounds like this is very late staged and severe. So far it is nowhere else in the body, but i think is state 4 because of the brain lesions. Im so heartbroken and scared. He is in great health besides this, he is 65 and hasnt smoked for 33 years. Do you think he has a good shot ?

Comments

  • lekkerone
    lekkerone Member Posts: 199 Member
    #2
    Sorrry
    I am sorry that your friend is going through this. The fact that he is generally in good health so be a big plus. However, none of us can tell you what you want to hear even though we would like to. We can only tell of our own experiences and encourage others but that's a limb that I don't think many of us are willing to climb out on. What do his doctors say.
    I wish him, you mom and you and the best. A good attitude will definitely help him.
  • beleiver1589
    beleiver1589 Member Posts: 5
    #3
    lekkerone said:

    Sorrry
    I am sorry that your friend is going through this. The fact that he is generally in good health so be a big plus. However, none of us can tell you what you want to hear even though we would like to. We can only tell of our own experiences and encourage others but that's a limb that I don't think many of us are willing to climb out on. What do his doctors say.
    I wish him, you mom and you and the best. A good attitude will definitely help him.

    Thankyou so much for
    Thankyou so much for responding to me. I lost my father to cancer and both my grandparents so this is a complete nightmare all over again and ive seen up close what cancer is capable of.
    This has all happened over the past 4 days so we havent been told a whole lot. His oncologist says he has a shot and the radiologist oncologist and his medical doctor seem to be optimistic about it. I think he appears to have some pluses in fighting it in that his health is good, hes been a runner his whole life running right up to a few weeks before this, the tumor is in the lower left lobe not on any windpipes or anything, and the doctors say the tumor is small. But the fact that it has spread to the brain and is considered stage 4 because of that is whats so scary, i started looking at statistics online for stage 4 and felt like i had been knocked in the face, it was horrifying. Does the size of the tumor make a difference do you think? when i heard it was less than 1cm i felt like that was a good sign
  • lekkerone
    lekkerone Member Posts: 199 Member
    #4
    beleiver1589 said:

    Thankyou so much for
    Thankyou so much for responding to me. I lost my father to cancer and both my grandparents so this is a complete nightmare all over again and ive seen up close what cancer is capable of.
    This has all happened over the past 4 days so we havent been told a whole lot. His oncologist says he has a shot and the radiologist oncologist and his medical doctor seem to be optimistic about it. I think he appears to have some pluses in fighting it in that his health is good, hes been a runner his whole life running right up to a few weeks before this, the tumor is in the lower left lobe not on any windpipes or anything, and the doctors say the tumor is small. But the fact that it has spread to the brain and is considered stage 4 because of that is whats so scary, i started looking at statistics online for stage 4 and felt like i had been knocked in the face, it was horrifying. Does the size of the tumor make a difference do you think? when i heard it was less than 1cm i felt like that was a good sign

    Believer
    As hard as it is, the best advice that I can give you is not to go collecting information on the internet. This is a very good site with folks who have way too much experience in dealing with cancer but the important thing is they are willing to share and to help you.
    Listen to the doctors and try, as hard as it is to stay positive.
  • beleiver1589
    beleiver1589 Member Posts: 5
    #5
    lekkerone said:

    Believer
    As hard as it is, the best advice that I can give you is not to go collecting information on the internet. This is a very good site with folks who have way too much experience in dealing with cancer but the important thing is they are willing to share and to help you.
    Listen to the doctors and try, as hard as it is to stay positive.

    Thankyou so much. You are
    Thankyou so much. You are absoloutly right, i need to stop spending hours on the internet researching statistics and what not. Im trying to stay positive and just listen to his doctors and what they have to say. They have not indicated anything yet that would make us beleive he does not have a shot at beating this. Im very interested and hearing survival stories of people with stage four or people who have expierences brain mets. I find hope and comfort and success stories like some of the ones i have read on here.
  • Ex_Rock_n_Roller
    Ex_Rock_n_Roller Member Posts: 281 Member
    #6
    Maybe we can answer your question piecemeal
    I know there are people on here who have had good success with brain mets, at least short term, and there's some pretty neat techniques out there now.

    Minus the brain involvement, your mom's fiance is me: same location, same order of magnitude, similar history (good overall health, fitness nut), with the exception that I never smoked at all. Staged 3B April 2010, two chemos and simultaneous radiation ending mid-July 2010, and clean scans ever since, the latest being a week ago. As my doc reminded me a couple visits ago, "The guy this clinic is named after had the same diagnosis and staging as you, and he's coming in for his 15-year followup this afternoon."

    There's no denying the stats are horrible and recurrence is likely, but somebody's going to be on the long end of the bell curve, and you have to take it a day at a time and be willing to be that person. No guarantees, not everybody is lucky even in the short haul, and the odds of recurrence are high.

    I guess it depends on how you define "beat this" and "good shot." If it means beat the odds and feel pretty great a year after the end of treatment, that can happen.
  • smneider
    smneider Member Posts: 20
    #7
    My Mom was just diagnosed
    My Mom was just diagnosed with the same but in different places. As far as the internet stats yes they are to say the least frightening. However, if you read carefully most of those stats are from 2005. My Mom's oncologist is the head of the lung dept at MD Anderson and said they rarely use technology from 5 years ago and there is a lot of new treatments, etc. I have found this website really helpful and comforting. Keep him positive and stress free.
  • beleiver1589
    beleiver1589 Member Posts: 5
    #8
    smneider said:

    My Mom was just diagnosed
    My Mom was just diagnosed with the same but in different places. As far as the internet stats yes they are to say the least frightening. However, if you read carefully most of those stats are from 2005. My Mom's oncologist is the head of the lung dept at MD Anderson and said they rarely use technology from 5 years ago and there is a lot of new treatments, etc. I have found this website really helpful and comforting. Keep him positive and stress free.

    Thankyou all so very much, i
    Thankyou all so very much, i feel alot of comfort in your words! Joe's oncologist told him today that radiation and chemo even in the past couple months is way different and more advanced than it was even last year so considering the stats are old im sure they have improved at least a little bit. My faith is strong and i have alot of hope. Throughout the day i have moments of heart ache and find it hard to do what i need to do for me and not dwell on this. But anyway, i know situations are different for everyone, and if the percentage of survivors is extremely low then, okay, how do we get him in that percentage. My Grandpa and Grandma both lost thier lives to lung cancer and i think thats why i am so scared. But putting things into perspective my grandpa was a 3 pack a day smoker right up until diagnosis and the tumor was located right on his windpipe, my grandma smoked about the same and opted out of doing any treatment at all. Both of them were in very poor health when with emphyzma among other health issues and this was about 6 years ago. So this situation is different in alot of ways. I think when i heard stage 4 i put everyone in that category but i think the staging can be confusing because someone with stage 4 and one met can be in the same category as someone with stage 4 and tons of mets everywhere. Again i am find all of this very encouraging and you guys are great. My dad had multiple myloma, it was quick and scary, i was only 15 at the time and didnt really understand what was going on. Now that im older and get the facts its almost scarier. I will keep you all updated on things. He is in the process of getting radiation currently for the brain mets, 15 sessions every day except weekends off so he is done with that one the 22nd. If there is still traces of the lesions int he brain after that they are going to do targeted radiation. After that they are doing radiation for tumor in his lung and chemotherapy. I dont know what kind of chemo yet though. I feel better that there is a game plan in place. There will be a PET scan next week, and he is sitting down with his doctor on monday to talk things over. I feel like there is hope. Does anyone know if the size of the tumor makes a difference? is it better if it is smaller?
  • Ex_Rock_n_Roller
    Ex_Rock_n_Roller Member Posts: 281 Member
    #9
    beleiver1589 said:

    Thankyou all so very much, i
    Thankyou all so very much, i feel alot of comfort in your words! Joe's oncologist told him today that radiation and chemo even in the past couple months is way different and more advanced than it was even last year so considering the stats are old im sure they have improved at least a little bit. My faith is strong and i have alot of hope. Throughout the day i have moments of heart ache and find it hard to do what i need to do for me and not dwell on this. But anyway, i know situations are different for everyone, and if the percentage of survivors is extremely low then, okay, how do we get him in that percentage. My Grandpa and Grandma both lost thier lives to lung cancer and i think thats why i am so scared. But putting things into perspective my grandpa was a 3 pack a day smoker right up until diagnosis and the tumor was located right on his windpipe, my grandma smoked about the same and opted out of doing any treatment at all. Both of them were in very poor health when with emphyzma among other health issues and this was about 6 years ago. So this situation is different in alot of ways. I think when i heard stage 4 i put everyone in that category but i think the staging can be confusing because someone with stage 4 and one met can be in the same category as someone with stage 4 and tons of mets everywhere. Again i am find all of this very encouraging and you guys are great. My dad had multiple myloma, it was quick and scary, i was only 15 at the time and didnt really understand what was going on. Now that im older and get the facts its almost scarier. I will keep you all updated on things. He is in the process of getting radiation currently for the brain mets, 15 sessions every day except weekends off so he is done with that one the 22nd. If there is still traces of the lesions int he brain after that they are going to do targeted radiation. After that they are doing radiation for tumor in his lung and chemotherapy. I dont know what kind of chemo yet though. I feel better that there is a game plan in place. There will be a PET scan next week, and he is sitting down with his doctor on monday to talk things over. I feel like there is hope. Does anyone know if the size of the tumor makes a difference? is it better if it is smaller?

    Size of the tumor
    That was one of the two things I was told were advantages in my case: (1) Small size of tumor, and, (2) Physical fitness.

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