no chemo after surgery ?

shaun65
shaun65 Member Posts: 8
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
hello. my mother was sent home from hospatial yestaday after she had two parts of her lung removed the upper and the bottom part of the left lung. she was in hospatial for three weeks, after many compilcations she got through it. i have to say when i ask the doctors questions they are very vauge. they tell me it was stage 1 or 2. and i asked them for the lab test results to see is the any more cancer cells. they tell me they dont have them yet . that was 3 weeks ago when they took the samples after surgery. i also asked if she needs chemo or radio and they say no more treatmeant is needed. i am very confused this all new to me i dont know to ask i am very confused . can anybody help me . i really somone to explaine.
thank you
shaun

Comments

  • Leskay
    Leskay Member Posts: 26
    #2
    My Fiance's (who has cancer)
    My Fiance's (who has cancer) mother had a diagnoses of lung cancer three years ago. She had half of her lung removed. The doctor at Sloan said he got it very early and she did not need chemo or radiation. Well this saturday she had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital... scan revealed that it had matastisized to the brain (3 tumors) I cant help to think that if she had gotten some chemo she wouldnt have gotten this.
  • medi_2
    medi_2 Member Posts: 505 Member
    #3
    Leskay said:

    My Fiance's (who has cancer)
    My Fiance's (who has cancer) mother had a diagnoses of lung cancer three years ago. She had half of her lung removed. The doctor at Sloan said he got it very early and she did not need chemo or radiation. Well this saturday she had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital... scan revealed that it had matastisized to the brain (3 tumors) I cant help to think that if she had gotten some chemo she wouldnt have gotten this.

    well that sucks...
    Didn't they do periodic cat scans? Giving her chemo when no cancer was present wouldn't have been an option. Seems odd she wasn't checked for 3 years because lung cancer is very sneaky and if it is sclc it moves very quickly.
    I wish her well!
    Medi
  • trft
    trft Member Posts: 48
    #4
    chemo after surgery
    Hi shaun,

    Last June I went in for my 5th year checkup. Everything is fine and I am now what they call a long term survivor.

    When we first got the diagnosis back in 2005 that I had stage 1B of non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer there were 2 four year studies out that suggested something like a 10% increased chance of survival with chemo after surgery. And I did have chemo.

    At the 5th year checkup my oncologist informed me that they had found that the chemo had since "proved" ineffective. I did not follow up with further research. That's all I know. I do want to say one thing else. And this is psychological, I think. About a year ago I met someone here who had exactly the same thing as me. She had surgery just like I did for one lobe and she did not have the chemo. Unfortunately her cancer came back. Of course, she regretted that she had not had the chemo. And I think I understand how she felt, and I even felt guilty that I had the chemo. There are, of course, a lot of feelings involved with cancer. It can't be avoided.

    My advice, by all means pursue the cat scans and any surgery that needs to check for lobe involvement. After that, get a second opinion if it makes you feel better.

    Good luck and my best to you, Tim
  • z
    z Member Posts: 1,414 Member
    #5
    trft said:

    chemo after surgery
    Hi shaun,

    Last June I went in for my 5th year checkup. Everything is fine and I am now what they call a long term survivor.

    When we first got the diagnosis back in 2005 that I had stage 1B of non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer there were 2 four year studies out that suggested something like a 10% increased chance of survival with chemo after surgery. And I did have chemo.

    At the 5th year checkup my oncologist informed me that they had found that the chemo had since "proved" ineffective. I did not follow up with further research. That's all I know. I do want to say one thing else. And this is psychological, I think. About a year ago I met someone here who had exactly the same thing as me. She had surgery just like I did for one lobe and she did not have the chemo. Unfortunately her cancer came back. Of course, she regretted that she had not had the chemo. And I think I understand how she felt, and I even felt guilty that I had the chemo. There are, of course, a lot of feelings involved with cancer. It can't be avoided.

    My advice, by all means pursue the cat scans and any surgery that needs to check for lobe involvement. After that, get a second opinion if it makes you feel better.

    Good luck and my best to you, Tim

    Shaun
    Hi Shaun,

    I was a Stage 1a NSCL and I had the lower right lobe removed. I do not require chemo or radiation as from what I am told by my oncologist is that with this stage and with this treatment of removing the entire lobe, I have an 80% 5 year survival rate. I will be scanned on 1-18-11. I will probably be scanned every 3 months for quite a long time to make sure it doesn't show up again. I had a squamous cell cancer which is related to smoking. I smoked for 35 years. I quit on 5-4-09.

    Your moms drs should have the results by now. I had the vats procedure and they did a biopsy right there in the OR before they decided that the lobe needed to come out and it was indeed cancer. Now maybe they do things different where you are. I hope you get some answers soon.
    You and your mom are in thoughts and prayers. Lori
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #6
    Shaun
    Some great advice from others! I would like to add that you should INSIST on getting those medical reports, not just for current information you might glean from them, but for whatever use they may serve in the future. Your mom paid for those reports and has every right to them immediately.

    On this site, in fact, we generally suggest that you collect documentation as it is created, as they are apt to charge you fees for copying them at a later date as they accumulate: INSIST on them.

    As others have indicated to you, treatment options vary from person to person depending on stage, type of cancer, even health and age of patient. I agree with the respondent who suggested a second opinion -- in the event you are unhappy with or distrustful of the current doctors. But please accept, again, that treatment varies due to any number of factors.

    If they removed a couple of lobes, it sounds as though they have been aggressive in treatment (I had lower right lobectomy followed by chemo treatment of carboplatin and taxol).

    I wish your mom and her family the very best.

    Take care,

    Joe

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