Maybe too early but mum is currently in hospital with lesions on brain and lung

worriedson

Hey everyone,

Hope you are all well.

My situation is that my mother had been feeling unwell and terrible headaches for a week and we went to the hospital and they told her it was a tension headache and to sleep it off but things got even worse so we went up on Monday and she had a CT scan and they found 2 lesions on the brain and an MRI the next day showed 2 lesions on her lung as well.

She has been in hospital for 5 days now on a course of steroids, anti-sickness and pain killers 3 times a day which have provided great relief from her headaches almost instantly but we have just been waiting now for 5 days and have finally been booked in for a biopsy on the lung on Monday and they are waiting for the neurological until at another hospital to review her case on Monday and come back to us.

She seemed so ill in the week running upto the hospital admission but now she is eating, laughing and joking and seems back to her old self.

- My mum had no symptoms of lung cancer at all and the headaches and sickness were the first sign of anything - is this a good or bad sign?
- Has anyone else experienced anything like this themselves or with a loved one?
- Is it only cancer that will be on the lung and brain?
- If it is on the brain and lung does that mean it is as serious as it can be?
- Is the fact that they are taking there time doing the tests etc.... a good sign that it isn't that serious?
- What could be the best case scenario from the biopsy result as i want something positive to cling onto as all i've read on the net is the median 4 month etc....

Thank you for reading and any help/advice will be greatly appreciated as I am worried sick and we are not getting a great amount of detail from the hospital?

Ex_Rock_n_Roller

This is scary stuff, ...
... but the only place you really can get the info you need is the docs and the hospital. Definitely press them for the detail you need; it's what they get paid for.

Based solely on my experience (2-year survivor after stage 3B, radiation and chemo only, no metastases outside the chest):

"Has anyone else experienced anything like this themselves or with a loved one?"
- A lot of people here have, some are survivors, and I'm sure they will log in.

"My mum had no symptoms of lung cancer at all and the headaches and sickness were the first sign of anything - is this a good or bad sign?"
- That's actually pretty standard for lung cancer, so not necessarily a sign in either direction. It has ways of hiding until it's at an advanced stage, which is part of the reason the success rate isn't so good.

"Is it only cancer that will be on the lung and brain?"
- That can only be answered via a biopsy, but it it's the same thing on the lung and the brain, cancer has to be one of the most likely choices. I'm no expert, but there are probably other conditions that could do this. In any case, a biopsy will tell."

"If it is on the brain and lung does that mean it is as serious as it can be?"
- If it is cancer in both places, that makes it stage 4, which is serious. It's not the worst it could be, because it could show up other places that might be even less treatable. There are treatments for both the brain and the lung that are getting better every day.

"Is the fact that they are taking there time doing the tests etc.... a good sign that it isn't that serious?"
- Sounds like they did the CT and the MRI pretty quickly, so they really aren't taking their time. If they're delaying the others, it may be in order to adress her immediate comfort situation before doing anything else. In other words, I don't think it has anything to do with the seriousness, because that's not something they guess about.

"What could be the best case scenario from the biopsy result as i want something positive to cling onto as all i've read on the net is the median 4 month etc...."
- The absolute best result would be that it's not cancer. That kind of a good result is not impossible. If it is cancer, the next best result would be that they are able to put together an effective treatment regimen that she will tolerate.

It's tough to escape the scary stats, but no one person is a population statistic. As best I read the stats, there's about a 20% chance I should be alive right now in any condition, and not only am I, but I have not had a detected recurrence, and my lifestyle is not in the slightest limited. As everybody here will tell you, don't live in the internet! As far as I'm concerned, knowing the bad stats is only good as a wakeup call that you need to get your house in order just in case, but quite possibly useless in actually predicting what's going to happen to you.

Try not to jump the gun until the results of all the tests are in. Best of luck to your mom!

Samsungtech1

Treatments
From the language Iam assuming that you are in England. There is a DR in Switzerland who invented a treatment that is spreading aroung the world. I was lucky enough to get this treatment. It is called radiosugery. They have a computer driven radiation,achine thatwill fire high doses of radiation at given targets, and it kills cancer nodules up to 1.5 cm. it took. Out five nodules in my lungs. Impressed,e, and gave me a few more years.

Everyone needs to investigate this, as I am sure itcan help alot of people. It is called radiosugery. Not available everywhere.

Good luck

Mike

nanaof7

Samsungtech1 said:

Treatments
From the language Iam assuming that you are in England. There is a DR in Switzerland who invented a treatment that is spreading aroung the world. I was lucky enough to get this treatment. It is called radiosugery. They have a computer driven radiation,achine thatwill fire high doses of radiation at given targets, and it kills cancer nodules up to 1.5 cm. it took. Out five nodules in my lungs. Impressed,e, and gave me a few more years.

Everyone needs to investigate this, as I am sure itcan help alot of people. It is called radiosugery. Not available everywhere.

Good luck

Mike

I had lung cancer and brain mets
in 2009 I was dx with lung cancer nsc adenocarcinoma in 2010 I got brain mets 3 and was told I was told stage 4 incurable with 3-6 months to live as you can see I am still here and feeling great and I get a ct of my chest abdomen and pelvis every 3 months along with a brain mri all has been clear I go back in sept always keep a positive attitude and focus on the positive alot of people here have good advice. good luck

sleepless in jersey

nanaof7 said:

I had lung cancer and brain mets
in 2009 I was dx with lung cancer nsc adenocarcinoma in 2010 I got brain mets 3 and was told I was told stage 4 incurable with 3-6 months to live as you can see I am still here and feeling great and I get a ct of my chest abdomen and pelvis every 3 months along with a brain mri all has been clear I go back in sept always keep a positive attitude and focus on the positive alot of people here have good advice. good luck

Cheers to you nanaof7
Continue to keep your head up and stay positive!!!

God Bless
Sleepless

My Mom who’s 62 now. Has been DX 1/3/11 NSCLC (Adeno) Triple mutation neg. 10 days of WBR and brain surgery 1/11, started Carboplatin/Alimta/Zameta and B12, showed 1 tumor growing switched TX to Taxotere/Zameta 5/11 too many side effects, tumors have grown, port put in 8/11, thoracenteses x2 neg.- CA, pleurodesis on both lungs 8/11 & 10/11. Gemzar 8/11 growth and too many side effects.11/16/11 started Navelbine. 5//12 scans showed some growth to chest wall, switch to Topotecan. 7/12 progression with several brain mets, poss leptomeningeal disease (declined lumbar puncture). Tarceva 7/12