Adenocarcinoma lung cancer

BarbBolding
BarbBolding Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My mother in law is 54 years old and was diagnosied in Jan 2007 with lung cancer. she was told back in 2004-2005 that she had a spot on her lung but she never went back to have it checked so in 2007 she went to the doc with a bad cough and they discovered that she had stage 3b Adenocarcinoma lung cancer. the tumor on her lung was 8cm x 10cm if i recall. we have gone through apprx. 30 radations and a low dose round of chemo. she was offered higher chemo and declined it. her odds according to doc was 10% at the beginning. 20% now. and even with a more aggressive chemo her odds would not increase. we were told the tumor had met the chest wall. we were also told that there was activity in the lymph node prior to the chemo radation. does that mean the cancer is in the lymph nodes? after the chemo and radation there was still activity in the lymph node and we were told that they were not sure if it was radation or chemo working on the lymph node. why wouldnt they know? cant they biopsy it? also as we read today the survival rate is 1 year for this type of cancer without surgery. are there other numbers out there? have any of you delt with this? we cant get information from her docotor without her permission so its hard to talk to them with her there.

Comments

  • CinciRick
    CinciRick Member Posts: 23
    #2
    Hi Barb,

    Sorry to hear about your mother. May 2007 Ted Koppel hosted a show on Discovery Channel called "Living With Cancer" where one of the quests was his friend Leroy Sievers. They were documenting his fight against cancer when they were contacted by a Dr about RFA. Depending on the size and location of the tuors, this is a treatment that quickly kills the tumors. You can find him on the web easily, he keeps a blog on his NPR radio web site. I looked into it and it is a great possibility for many people. I was told that in my case I am not a candidate and it would not work for me but I would ask your mothers Dr if he knows about this treatment. Radio Frequency Ablation is available now at many places including Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

    http://www.cancercenter.com/cancer-treatments.cfm


    Leroy Sievers

    Could it be that Sievers -- a man whose life has been derailed by a deadly cancer traveling throughout his body, a man who has been contemplating death with each passing day -- may soon be rid of cancer altogether?

    Actually, Sievers already sees glimpses of cancer falling to the wayside.

    Having undergone a new procedure called Radio Frequency Ablation -- where needles are stuck into tumors, burning them away from the inside out -- Sievers sees a brighter future. He's seen his latest scans. He's seen the black holes where tumors once lived. He's seen that no new tumors have appeared. He's seen that he may actually survive cancer.

    Months ago, this man, who blogs his cancer journey for NPR, was told he would likely not survive the year. Now he realized he may outlive this prediction. And while this is great news, Sievers finds himself a bit unsure about a life without cancer.
  • Bradsong
    Bradsong Member Posts: 2
    #3
    I am 54, and I was diagnosed in April 2007 with Stage IV non small cell lung cancer (adenocarcinoma). It was discovered at the time that I had surgery to remove a malignant tumor the size of a golf ball from my brain. The lung cancer metastasized to the brain. I, like your mother in law, went through 25 radiation treatments on my lung, 20 whole brain radiation treatments, and 5 doses of weekly low dose chemo. I just had the fourth high dose chemo treatment, with (hopefully) only one to go next month. My oncologist, reading solely from the charts, has given me about the same odds that your mother-in-law was given. The most recent scans do not show any new metastasis, and that the tumor in the lung has shrunk by 40% and probably isn't cancerous now. The chemo is being done now to mop up and kill off what cancerous cells may be present that are too small for the scans to detect. Technically, I'm in remission, but the oncologist still doesn't budge from either the odds or the one year survival rate.

    My oncologist can keep his charts of odds and expectancies, but they don't apply. My faith is that I am cured. God can and does heal. I've sent up my prayer for you that healing will touch every member of your family, including especially your mother in law.

    My folks have been worried about me, and I gave my oncologist permission to speak with them freely whenever they want. I had to sign some HIPPA forms, as doctors are precluded from discussing a patient's medical condition without the patient's consent. I think you should explain to your mother in law that you want to be the very best and most helpful caregiver that you can be, and that it would be helpful to you to learn from the doctor what to expect so that you can be on hand to lovingly help her through whatever she may face. Also, be aware that many of the oncology offices have a social worker on staff whose job it is to help both patients and caregivers to cope. They cannot give medical advice to the questions you have posed, but they can provide emotional support if that is what you need.

    Good luck, Barb.
  • karenlee3sons
    karenlee3sons Member Posts: 35
    #4
    Nine years ago, at age 55 I was also diagnosed with stage 3b adenocarcinoma. I had surgery to remove the upper right lobe. There were also spots near lymph nodes. After surgery I had chemo followed by radiation. I believe in treating it as aggresively as possible. I had taxol with carboplatin as my chemo. You can survive this!!! I am proof of that. I have never had a recurrence of any kind and the spots completely disappeared after treatment. Keeping a positive attitude is so very important.
  • BarbBolding
    BarbBolding Member Posts: 3
    #5
    karenlee3sons said:

    Nine years ago, at age 55 I was also diagnosed with stage 3b adenocarcinoma. I had surgery to remove the upper right lobe. There were also spots near lymph nodes. After surgery I had chemo followed by radiation. I believe in treating it as aggresively as possible. I had taxol with carboplatin as my chemo. You can survive this!!! I am proof of that. I have never had a recurrence of any kind and the spots completely disappeared after treatment. Keeping a positive attitude is so very important.

    As I posted above I am trying to gather all the info I can for my mother in law. I am her primary caretaker. since her cancer was found she has had to under go 5 esophagus stretchs because of all the damage by radation. some of her issues I think are mental because she is so stressed but I would never tell her this. She has been having some arm and shoulder pain on the same side as her cancer. she had it Xrayed a few weeks ago and we received a call that said they wanted to run some more test on her bone. does it seem likely that the cancer has spread to her bone? if so how do they treat that. more chemo? just looking for little more help thank you.. Barbara
  • debber216
    debber216 Member Posts: 12
    #6
    Hi Barb, Nice to meet you. First thing, don't pay any attention to percentages, they are old, outdated, and are only used as a guideline for treatment. As far as I know, they should be able to biopsy they lymphnodes to check for the cancer.
    I'm 50, (was 49 when diagnosed with the same as your Mom's Cancer) and had top and middle lobe of my right lung removed in Sept. of 2006, and staged at 3B. I had 4 rounds of chemo, 3 weeks apart starting in Oct. and ended in Dec. For my 3mo. check, they thought they saw a "spot" on what was left of my right lung, on the CT Scan. They had me do a PET scan to confirm, but that showed some uptake in my mediastinum. Anyway, my Dr. wanted me to start 6weeks of radiaion, 5 days a week, along with chemo, 1 day a week. I refused without a biopsy, and got a second opinion. They did a CT Scan again, saw the spot on my "lung" and set me for a biopsy. When they were doing the CT Scan, to locate the spot where they needed to biopsy, IT WAS GONE!!! So, miracles do happen Barb!!
    If you're confused or concerned about your Mom's treatment, ask alot of questions!! If you're still not sure - get a second opinion, I highly recommend it!! Take care and if you need anything, or if I can help in anyway - just let me know!! God Bless and prayers to you and your family!! Hugs. Deb
  • chatsnoir
    chatsnoir Member Posts: 2
    #7
    karenlee3sons said:

    Nine years ago, at age 55 I was also diagnosed with stage 3b adenocarcinoma. I had surgery to remove the upper right lobe. There were also spots near lymph nodes. After surgery I had chemo followed by radiation. I believe in treating it as aggresively as possible. I had taxol with carboplatin as my chemo. You can survive this!!! I am proof of that. I have never had a recurrence of any kind and the spots completely disappeared after treatment. Keeping a positive attitude is so very important.

    karenlee....you have given me hope. my story is similar, except my diagnosis and surgery at age 55 was in 2007. was your surgery VATS or was it the traditional large incision? and how are you doing today?
  • juliegillett
    juliegillett Member Posts: 1
    #8
    debber216 said:

    Hi Barb, Nice to meet you. First thing, don't pay any attention to percentages, they are old, outdated, and are only used as a guideline for treatment. As far as I know, they should be able to biopsy they lymphnodes to check for the cancer.
    I'm 50, (was 49 when diagnosed with the same as your Mom's Cancer) and had top and middle lobe of my right lung removed in Sept. of 2006, and staged at 3B. I had 4 rounds of chemo, 3 weeks apart starting in Oct. and ended in Dec. For my 3mo. check, they thought they saw a "spot" on what was left of my right lung, on the CT Scan. They had me do a PET scan to confirm, but that showed some uptake in my mediastinum. Anyway, my Dr. wanted me to start 6weeks of radiaion, 5 days a week, along with chemo, 1 day a week. I refused without a biopsy, and got a second opinion. They did a CT Scan again, saw the spot on my "lung" and set me for a biopsy. When they were doing the CT Scan, to locate the spot where they needed to biopsy, IT WAS GONE!!! So, miracles do happen Barb!!
    If you're confused or concerned about your Mom's treatment, ask alot of questions!! If you're still not sure - get a second opinion, I highly recommend it!! Take care and if you need anything, or if I can help in anyway - just let me know!! God Bless and prayers to you and your family!! Hugs. Deb

    survior

    Hi deb read your story and happy for you.i also went threw the same last year 2014 Feb had my op on the 5th March on my right Lungu removed the tumor at the bottom of my lobe,had 30 radiation and 7 rounds of chemo.had pet scan in June and all was good then an X ray in Dec and all was still good. I still get sore feet and tiredness but not as bad.just my feet really..but just after Xmas was coughing up some blood  please advise me if this also happened to you.as that's how I ended up going for a check..went for an city scan but haven't collected my results..Please help.thanx julie

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