Second-line chemo..questions

Sharonlm
Sharonlm Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My husband was diagnosed in Oct. 2007 with squamous cell carcinoma (NSCLC) and never had surgery because his lungs are impaired from COPD. He received 35 treatments of radiation and 7 (once a week) treatments of chemo.

Now, 2 years later the cancer has returned. He has a small tumor (nodule) 1.5 x 1.6 in the same, left lung but it's in a different area of the lung.

First our oncologist said we should wait to have chemo until Mike becomes symptomatic then he changed his mind (it's as if he forgot he had said to wait) and said we need to start chemo immediately. He wants to use taxotere.

Now the question I have are, should we wait? What is the average "extended" period of life a second-line of chemo will give?

Mike wants quality above quantity and he does not want extra weeks or months if he is fatigued and/or sick. I've researched this and some articles seem to suggest an extended 5 weeks or so and some suggest an extended period of months. It's so confusing.

Also, this time the tumor is in the suprahilar area, before it was in the lingular area. Is having the tumor (growing) in the suprahilar area more dangerous than most other areas of the lungs?

Thanks for any help and advice!

Sharonlm

Comments

  • quiltingranny
    quiltingranny Member Posts: 2
    #2
    Taxotere
    My husband was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in June 2009. He was given chemotherapy treatments and radiation concurrently. When he was near the end of the 6 weeks of radiation the Oncologist told us that he would receive 2 treatments of taxotere 4 weeks apart. I too looked up information online concerning this treatment and wanted to ask the doctor why she was recommending this. My husband does not want me to ask the Oncologist any questions and I told him that I would respect his wishes. He has received one treatment with the taxotere and is to receive the next one on November 24. He was sore all over and had a headache two days after the initial treatment. This lasted a few days and he has been extremely tired ever since. I am afraid that this next round will be harder for him to tolerate and I am questioning the need for him to have it right now as he has never had a follow up PET scan to the initial treatment so at this time we do not even know if the cancer is active anymore. I am feeling frustrated with the Oncologist as she has never told us what stage the cancer is. When I asked she said it could be Stage 2 or 3. We were also led to believe that surgery might be possible after the initial treatment but as the radiation treatments were almost over they told us that the cancer was inoperable. My husband is adamant about following doctors orders but I feel as if she is not being upfront with us. When I asked about future treatments she just said that she was going for a cure and wouldn't discuss anything.
  • mimi0825
    mimi0825 Member Posts: 2
    #3
    chemo 2nd time around hilar metastatic lymphoadenopathy
    my mom has now been diagnosed with hilar metastatic disease exactly 1 yr from November 08 initial diagnosis of left lung Stage IIIA adenocarcinoma. she as did your husband suffered from COPD and severe asthma but still had a thoracotomy and wedge resection. She did relatively well after her concurrent radiation and chemo until her recent recurrence. Not sure what to expect with this next round of chemo (Navelbine) which starts on Monday. The first time around you would never even know she was sick. She has a great attitude but already refusing to use oxygen if it becomes required. So i think she too is a quality not a quantity of life person also. Hard for me to tell her what to do, i want her here forever but what is her time frame really no one seems to want to give her any .
  • Sharonlm
    Sharonlm Member Posts: 2
    #4
    mimi0825 said:

    chemo 2nd time around hilar metastatic lymphoadenopathy
    my mom has now been diagnosed with hilar metastatic disease exactly 1 yr from November 08 initial diagnosis of left lung Stage IIIA adenocarcinoma. she as did your husband suffered from COPD and severe asthma but still had a thoracotomy and wedge resection. She did relatively well after her concurrent radiation and chemo until her recent recurrence. Not sure what to expect with this next round of chemo (Navelbine) which starts on Monday. The first time around you would never even know she was sick. She has a great attitude but already refusing to use oxygen if it becomes required. So i think she too is a quality not a quantity of life person also. Hard for me to tell her what to do, i want her here forever but what is her time frame really no one seems to want to give her any .

    Update. Mike has agreed to
    Update. Mike has agreed to do the Taxotere. Our onc said he would stay on it until he can't stay on it anymore. I'm grateful and relieved he will be fighting. It feels so good to fight this monster!

    His first treatment will be December 1st and the next treatment will be December 22nd.
  • quiltingranny
    quiltingranny Member Posts: 2
    #5
    Sharonlm said:

    Update. Mike has agreed to
    Update. Mike has agreed to do the Taxotere. Our onc said he would stay on it until he can't stay on it anymore. I'm grateful and relieved he will be fighting. It feels so good to fight this monster!

    His first treatment will be December 1st and the next treatment will be December 22nd.

    Second line treatment
    My husband received his second round of taxotere last Tuesday, Nov 24. He is currently tired and hurting all over. He had 40% renal blockage before he started treatments and had a stint put in the left renal artery. He received intravenous fluids during his initial treatments and his blood work indicates that he might need the extra fluids this time as well. He goes to the doctor tomorrow so he should know more at that time. Sharonlm, I would like to know how your husband handles the taxotere. I still find it strange that my husbands oncologist started him on the taxotere before he had a follow-up CAT scan.

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