My Mom had lung cancer for over a year…

VampLover78

Hi! My Mom had lung cancer (it metastasized to her brain) for over a year. She did so well with chemo & immunotherapy when she was 1st diagnosed. She also had radiation on her entire brain. The chemo/immunotherapy stopped working (the mass grew a tad) then we tried a clinical trial (waste of time) & while being on the clinical trial she lost her voice in April & than she had radiation on her lung. It helped so much. Her doctor suggested to start a chemo pill to keep the cancer at bay. I wish we never ever tried the chemo pill. She took the pills for 2 cycles & all of sudden she was so so fatigued. My mom everyday got up, got dressed, drove everyday, she was tired but not like the last 4 weeks of her life. Than on top of that she got pneumonia. She was admitted to the ER because of her blood levels being so low & the pneumonia. She was there for 4 days. She wanted to come home. She wasn’t getting better from the pneumonia & she was still so fatigued. She did eat even if she was fatigued. With the pneumonia, she was constantly coughing (bad cough) & spitting up stuff. Than on November 5, she was at the table about to eat dinner & she coughed up blood, I said oh no that’s not good. After that she was vomiting blood & during this time, I had to call 911 & she was still vomiting so much blood & she couldn’t catch her breath, she was raising her arms up in the air, I said Mom what should I do 🥺 By this time she was vomiting in the trash & she slumped over & I laid her on the floor & she shook a little & took her last breath 💔 There was so much blood. 911 wanted me to do compressions & I did but I knew my Mom was gone. I keep asking myself was she in pain, did she know she was dying, why did this happen?! One thing about my Mom, she never ever complained & she was so damn strong until the last month. Thank goodness she was never in pain throughout the last year.

I’m just wondering, does this happen to lung cancer patients?! Is there therapy out there?

Thank you for reading 💜

eDivebuddy

So sorry for your loss. This sounds especially traumatic. Unfortunately yes, this does happen to cancer patients. Most lung cancer patients will succumb to the disease or it's complications. While treatments have come a remarkable distance in the last 10 years it's still a devastating disease.

If this disease takes me out I intend to have tried everything possible before throwing in the towel. If a drug is approved, it means it's helped someone. I would want the chance of it possibly working for me.

The number one direct cause of death in cancer patients is infections with pneumonia being at the top. Don't think not taking the pills would have stopped it from developing. I don't know if she knew she was dying but I suspect yes. At the ER she probably just wanted to go home and be as comfortable as possible with what little time she knew she had left. Hospitals can be cold lonely places even with the greatest nursing care possible.

Again so sorry you're going through this.