My friend was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer

pamness
pamness Member Posts: 524 Member
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My friend was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer about 1.5 years ago. She had mets to pelvis and abodmen. She did 8 rounds of chemo and the mets in pelvis and abdomen went away, although primary tumor in the lung remained. After a number of other medical problems. The primary tumor in the lung is blocking her air way a bit and a small amount of something is showing up in the pelvis - they are recommending rads and then chemo. I had colon cancer which was diagnosed about the same time as her lung cancer, so we have formed quite a bond. I don't know much about lung cancer (she never smoked, no family history) any one have anything they can tell me. Her oncologist has suggested two different chemo's after radiation. Anyone?

Comments

  • trft
    trft Member Posts: 48
    #2
    I'm stage 1B lung cancer almost 3 years, so I kind of feel guilty. But forget the guilt, I don't know what you can do. There are a few folks here that I would certainly want to support, encourage, just talk with in any event. That's what you can do. I had chemo, but I didn't have rads. And the chemo wasn't that bad. I guess rads can be tough, but they prolly want to shrink the lung tumor. Personally, I hardly know my oncologist. So I'd prolly talk with the pulmonologist I met initially and my primary and then go ahead and do it.

    Weird, isn't it. You bump into people in this life going down some kind of the same path.

    Good luck and good support.
  • dscott
    dscott Member Posts: 35
    #3
    trft said:

    I'm stage 1B lung cancer almost 3 years, so I kind of feel guilty. But forget the guilt, I don't know what you can do. There are a few folks here that I would certainly want to support, encourage, just talk with in any event. That's what you can do. I had chemo, but I didn't have rads. And the chemo wasn't that bad. I guess rads can be tough, but they prolly want to shrink the lung tumor. Personally, I hardly know my oncologist. So I'd prolly talk with the pulmonologist I met initially and my primary and then go ahead and do it.

    Weird, isn't it. You bump into people in this life going down some kind of the same path.

    Good luck and good support.

    Hi my boyfriend was diagnosed in Aug with stage 4 lung. He has met to many bones so his case is different but they are the same in the staging. I found great comfort in reading the rest of the message board stories. It really gives you hope when you read the other stories in that stage 4 is not a death sentence for everyone. I wish your friend and you luck. Keep us posted...Debbie
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    #4
    I have lung cancer and I have no obvious risk factors either. I don't smoke, there's no family history, I eat right, exercise daily, weight about the right amount. I'm a very healthy person who just happens to have a major killer disease. My doctor tells me that they are not sure why women without risk factors are coming down with lung cancer more often now than in the past but that what seems to be happening. Stage 4 cancer means that you have a chronic disease that can be treated though not actually cured. I have spoken to a survivor of breast cancer that went through various kinds of chemo 5 times. She was given 2 months to live over two decades ago. It happens. She told me the best thing to do (after you cry and scream at the diagnosis) is to get to the best doctors you can get to and do what they say. If they seem unwilling to fight as hard as you want to fight, get another opinion. Switch doctors if they give up before you do. Good luck!
  • Gannie345
    Gannie345 Member Posts: 2
    #5
    I have stg IV lung ca with mets to liver. Dx 2/07 Non smoker. Did 6 courses of Taxol and Carboplatin ... rough chemo. Chemo shrunk the tumor in my lung to about 1/4 of the original size. Did well for awhile but the tumor has started to grow again. Doc has let me have a break to do some living but I'll be starting chemo again soon. Not looking forward to it but it's what I have to do because I'm not ready to give up. It's ok to be angry sometimes, it's ok to be scared, it's ok to be sad sometimes but you can't let these feelings over power you. You have to make the most out of life...do what you enjoy doing, spend time with the ones you love. It's very important that the people around me don't treat me like I'm sick. I want to feel as normal as possible. I don't mind if you ask questions about how I'm doing or about my treatments. Actually it helps me to talk about it. But if you're not really interested do me a favor and don't ask.
  • Zard
    Zard Member Posts: 3
    #6
    Gannie345 said:

    I have stg IV lung ca with mets to liver. Dx 2/07 Non smoker. Did 6 courses of Taxol and Carboplatin ... rough chemo. Chemo shrunk the tumor in my lung to about 1/4 of the original size. Did well for awhile but the tumor has started to grow again. Doc has let me have a break to do some living but I'll be starting chemo again soon. Not looking forward to it but it's what I have to do because I'm not ready to give up. It's ok to be angry sometimes, it's ok to be scared, it's ok to be sad sometimes but you can't let these feelings over power you. You have to make the most out of life...do what you enjoy doing, spend time with the ones you love. It's very important that the people around me don't treat me like I'm sick. I want to feel as normal as possible. I don't mind if you ask questions about how I'm doing or about my treatments. Actually it helps me to talk about it. But if you're not really interested do me a favor and don't ask.

    I have a question:
    Did you do a radio/chemo or just chemo? My brother seems to be in phase IV and we're not sure of what to do.
  • Diane03
    Diane03 Member Posts: 42
    #7
    I was just diagnosed with stage 4-lung and adrenol gland. I just finished 2 weeks of radiation as the tumor is blocking my airway. It did help quite a bit. I can finally walk without feeling like I am suffocating. I had my 1st chemo on June 13- 3 different drugs were used, Avastin, Carboplatin and taxol. I am receiving that combination every 3 weeks. I should have my next set of scans in August- hopefully, there will be some improvement. I know the radiation at least shrunk it enough to take the pressure off of my pulmonary artery. Good Luck!
  • Patricia Novelo
    Patricia Novelo Member Posts: 1
    #8
    Stage IV lung Cancer
    First of all please tell your frind to keep her hopes high. I was diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer on April 24th, 2007. No surgery was possible nor radiotherapy. I went through 22 chemo rounds lost my hair on October last year. I am Mexican and live in Mexico where it is somehow more difficult to get any kind of support and help. However, God put me in the hands of a great doctor who decided to try a new drug on me "IRESSA" from AstraZeneca it has passed almost a year. The tumor is gone and to this time I am in remission. Cancer is a very stressful condition. You neve know if it is comming back but the everyday life invites you to keep on regardless of all the current global conditions.
    Please tell your friend to leave everything to God and fight like a lion.
    God Bless You
    Patricia Novelo
  • jillpls
    jillpls Member Posts: 238
    #9
    I'm in same situation
    HI my friend also was DX with lung cancer at about the same time of my colon cancer. We have through a lot together and now she is not doing well (2.5 years later) and I am doing good. I know God has a plan for all of us. I try to stay strong and trust Him. My friend has had lots of chemo and radiation but now spiraling down. My heart breaks for the family because I know that some day it may happen to my family. I'm not afraid of dying, I don't like the idea of hurting the ones I love and I know that is what is on my friends minds as well. But again, God is there for me and my family and for my friend and family. Faith is what keeps us going.
    jillpls
  • lbanzi
    lbanzi Member Posts: 3
    #10
    Chemo Treatment for Small Cell
    I was diagnosed in July with small cell lung cancer and mets to 1 rib bone and lymph node. I had 6 rounds of in-hospital etoposide (VP-16) and cisplatin. The tumor in my right lung was pretty invasive, when first diagnosed, it was totally blocking my airway, caused the lung to collapse, and I was coughing up blood when first admitted. There were almost no airway sounds to the right lung when therapy was started. I went home on 6 liters of oxygen. I am now off all oxygen, and the tumors are all but gone. I am doing 7 weeks of radiation (am in my 5th week) to make sure that the cancer is gone for now. I would recommend the chemotherapy to anyone with Stage IV cancer, as it reduced my small cell to nothing in 6 treatments.

    My oncologist has told me that I am not out of the woods even if I am in remission. Has anyone out there survived small cell beyond 5 years? He is a good doctor, but not very optimistic about my long-term odds.
  • scrunch
    scrunch Member Posts: 2
    #11
    lbanzi said:

    Chemo Treatment for Small Cell
    I was diagnosed in July with small cell lung cancer and mets to 1 rib bone and lymph node. I had 6 rounds of in-hospital etoposide (VP-16) and cisplatin. The tumor in my right lung was pretty invasive, when first diagnosed, it was totally blocking my airway, caused the lung to collapse, and I was coughing up blood when first admitted. There were almost no airway sounds to the right lung when therapy was started. I went home on 6 liters of oxygen. I am now off all oxygen, and the tumors are all but gone. I am doing 7 weeks of radiation (am in my 5th week) to make sure that the cancer is gone for now. I would recommend the chemotherapy to anyone with Stage IV cancer, as it reduced my small cell to nothing in 6 treatments.

    My oncologist has told me that I am not out of the woods even if I am in remission. Has anyone out there survived small cell beyond 5 years? He is a good doctor, but not very optimistic about my long-term odds.

    small cell
    Hello
    I am a caregiver to my husband who was dx w/stage IV small cell lung cancer w/mets to the brain in NOVEMBER 2004!!! He is in remission as we speak. It will be five years in November. He has endured 3 brain surgeries, radiation to lung, lung surgery, chemo, whole brain radiation, stereotactic radiation to brain and proton beam radiation. 1st Oncologist he saw after his 1st brain surgery was negative and obnoxious and told my husband at BEST he had 2 years!!! Well we walked out of his office and went to Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MASS. And he was given multiple options & HOPE for remission. Never give up and change doctors if you are in the least bit uncomfortable. Put your trust in God and fight. God bless you and I pray for ALL who endure this very difficult and challenging disease.
  • Karenfufy
    Karenfufy Member Posts: 5
    #12
    How Can I Cope With the Stress?

    Submitted by Karenfufy on March 15, 2009 - 9:35pm

    I live with my boyfriend of 15 years. He was diagnosed with Small Cell Lung Cancer May 29th 2008. By the time they discovered it it had already spread to his liver. He has been battling it ever since, recently having to undergo Radiation for a brain tumor. I was working part-time up until January of this year, when I was laid off. We are going through an EXTREMELY stressful time right now and it can be very depressing. But somehow we haven't given up hope.
  • lovefordaddy
    lovefordaddy Member Posts: 1
    #13
    MY DAD HAS NON SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER AND MET TO LIVER
    JUST FOUND OUT MARCH 4TH 2009. I DID ALOT OF CRYING AND SCREAMING ECT.. NOW IM READY TO HELP HIM FIGHT. I HAVE QUIT MY JOB AND LEFT MY HUSBAND AT HOME TO STAY THE NIGHT EVERY NIGHT AT HIS HOUSE WITH MOM WHO IS ALSO NOT IN GREAT HEALTH. MY DAD IS SO HAPPY TO HAVE ME HERE AND HELP DO EVERYTHING HE USE TO DO AROUND THE HOUSE AND ALSO HELP MY MOM LIKE HE USE TO. HE IS IN A LOT OF PAIN AND ON 30MG OF MORPHINE SR PLUS HYDROC0DONE IN BETWEEN. THEY HAVE JUST SOLD THERE HOUSE BEFORE WE FOUND OUT AND NOW ME AND MY HUSBAND OUR PACKING UP HOUSE FOR THEM AND WILL MOVE THEM BACK TO OHIO WHERE THEY BOUGHT A HOUSE. BUT THATS NOT TILL MARCH 28TH. THEN ON MARCH 31ST GOT APPT WITH VA DOCTOR. NO ONE HAS MOVED FAST ENOUGH FOR ME AND DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TREATMENT WILL BE GOOD FOR HIM. THE SUSPENCE OF NOT KNOWING ANYTHING IS KILLING US ALL AND ALL WE CAN DO IS WAIT.WELL WHAT DO WE DO IN THE MEANTIME, IS THE DOCTOR WAITING TO LONG TO START I MEAN HOW LONG DOES HE HAVE..IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE THAT HAS SURVIVED THIS,THEY SAY ITS REALLY BAD.. WERE SO SCARED.... ANY COMMENT FROM ANYONE IM SURE WILL HELP. THANKS AND GOD BLESS...
  • mandm1
    mandm1 Member Posts: 21
    #14
    take a deep breath
    my wife was dx with 3b non operable(after the dodos in corpus operated an broke 3 ribs)in nov 09(happy thanksgiving) I was In touch with MDA houston with the 1st scan of a shadow and by the time we got to MDA we had little hope. DRs Kim and Guerra have not only given us our lives back but now think this is cureable.we just returned home after 6 weeks of rads and cemo for a 5 week rest and return on 4/29-30 for a look don't give up and keep the faith without my faith I would have passed out from the stress long ago ..my sister has been my life line and companion as mitzi continues her battle. I just found this site on mon 3 16 and have found it to be a breath of fresh and viable air

    mike
  • ARobben
    ARobben Member Posts: 46
    #15
    I was DX'ed with Stage IV
    I was DX'ed with Stage IV Lung Cancer in December. I'm 26, never smoked, and don't even have any friends that smoke. I eat pretty healthy (for the most part) and had no family history that I'm aware of (my dad was adopted, so we don't know family history on that side).

    Because of the location of the tumor, surgery is not an option. My doctors decided to go with just chemo for now, no radiation. I've been on Cisplatin, Alimta, and Avastin every three weeks (five rounds so far). I also receive two shots of Lovenox, a blood thinnner, every day to deal with multiple Pulmonary Embolisms (blood clots in the lungs) that developed as a result of the cancer.

    At first, I was a little overwhelmed with the Chemo, the blood thinner, and additional supplements and meds I am taking. But I think the key is to not let cancer screw with your life too much. Keep as many of your normal habits as you are able. Take on a new charge to eat healthy and exercise--these things are important and will improve your energy level and outlook. I try to walk a mile or two every day. Don't let the cancer define you or take over your life!

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