Hi
This is my first time on here in the forum that no one wants to join.
My lovely mum was diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer in April this year after what may have been a misdiagnosed biopsy earlier in the year in which they thought that the mass on her lung was of 'cut glass appearance' and not cancerous. Her symptoms did not improve on the steroids she had been prescribed and after a further biopsy she was sadly diagnosed at the end of April. She was initially told that she would have a course of Radical Radiotherapy as a curative treatment as she would not be strong enough either for surgery or chemo. Unfortunately, mum has had a series of bad chest infections and pneumonia coupled with severe confusion/delirium and hallucinations which has resulted in hospital stays. She is now in hospital and very poorly following a pneumonia diagnosis and still very confused.
She was due to start her rads last Monday following it being postponed due to the infections but she was in such a confused state that she was not able to go on Monday, she went on Tuesday with some coercion from my dad, but would not or could not comply with instructions on Wednesday last week when it was then abandoned at the request of mum's consultant. At a meeting with mum's consultant yesterday, he confirmed that the cancer had spread in her lungs (they had not re-scanned the rest of her body/brain) and any radiotherapy treatment would cause more distress/illness than the treatment would justify.
She is still very confused and is sleeping a lot. She has lost a lot of weight and complains of mouth ulcers. She is not able to come home as she is too poorly and my dad would not be able to cope so they are planning on discharging her on a 'fast-track' to a nursing home.
The consultant told us she had "a few short months" but he told one of the nurses 1-2 months. How accurate does anyone think this is based on your own experiences?
It's so hard to think about anything else at the moment and my brother is finding it very difficult to come to terms with the situation.
Sorry for rambling on and any advice would be very much appreciated.
Sandra x
