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Mum diagnosed with Stage 4 lung Cancer

Dpowuk
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Hi all, 

 

My mun has today been diagnoses with Stage 4 lung cancer having spread to her lymph nodes, glands and bones. We have been advised the best form of treatment is Chemo. While we have come to terms with the fact its terminal and that the chemo is only to prevent and not cure.

 

I wanted to ask the nurse but didnt like to ask in front of my mum. When her 4 rounds of Chemo end and the cancer has shrunk. Why does she then die? Does the cancer just grow back as it is now and brings the end that way? Are we literally just delaying the inevitable?

 

My dad dies of Pancreatic cancer last year but he didn't even get as far as chemo, so I'm not sure what to expect?

 

Any one that can give me some advice or experiences would be most helpful

 

Thanks

David

  • Offline in reply to Dpowuk

    No problem David, If you need any more info, I'll try to help. The chemo I was on was pemetrexed and Carboplatin. Hope everything goes well. 

  • Offline

    Hello I was diagnosed with breast cancer recurrence in May 2019 with lungs mets so stage 4.I was never told I am terminal and never told the time limit and i have never asked.I am on weekly chemo since August 2019 and nodules in my lungs keep shrinking.I am thinking about my cancer as a chronic disease and not that its terminal there are many people living with stage 4 cancer.I wouldnt advice you to google either the information is old and every person is different.

     

    I hope the chemo will work and its kind to your mum

     

    Denise

  • Offline in reply to Denise1977

    Thanks for the reply, i never really thought of it as a chronic illness rather than terminal. It's a much more positive way of thinking. 

     

    Iv tried to avoid Google as much as I can. 

     

    I hope your keeping as well as possible

    Thanks

    David

  • Offline in reply to Dpowuk

    Hi David 

     

    my partner is 32 and was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in February. 
     

    I asked a lot of similar questions. They gave him 6 months prognosis without treatment. 1-2 years with treatment. 
     

    he had 4 rounds of treatment which included 2 types of chemo and 2 types of anti-cancer drugs/immunotherapy. It was very hard on him, lots of side effects and it took about 2 months after his treatment stopped in June for those side effects to go away. They can only do 4 rounds of what he had because the drugs are so toxic. His scan showed that some of his lymph nodes had shrunk, some remained the same and the lesion in his lung remained the same. It was the best we could've hoped for. He's now on maintenance immunotherapy every 4 weeks. 
     

    from my knowledge, even though the areas shrink, eventually this type of cancer outsmarts the drugs and continues to grow. This could take months, or years if the patient is lucky. 
     

    as it happens, my partner has had 1 round of maintenance immunotherapy since his main treatment stopped, and they believe his cancer is already growing, in a matter of weeks. It's aggressive but he is/was a very healthy 32 year old so I think they are throwing everything at him.

     

    i wish you all the best, please keep coming back to the forum xxx 

  • Offline in reply to jamielou88

    Thanks for the reply, this sounds very similar to what my mum is going through at the moment. She has currently gone through 2 rounds of Chemo and 1 dose of Immunotherapy, fortunately the only side effect so far is her hair falling out. 

     

    I hope you and your partner manage through this difficult time as best you can. 

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