Lung cancer

Hi , my mother in law was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2019 , she was told it was a slow growing cancer , she began chemotherapy which lasted months and was told it hadn't changed , she was then offered immunotherapy which she did . After this they told her it hadn't worked and the cancer was growing but hadn't spread anywhere and was still in the 1 lung . They told her she could have 3 months of very strong invasive chemo and maybe prolong her life a little or do nothing , she chose the chemo . Yesterday we were told to stop the chemo tablets that there's nothing more they can do for her the chemo has not worked and from her recent scan it shows her cancer hasn't spread to other parts of the body but is active and aggresive in the lung , when asked on probable time she had left she was told maybe weeks maybe a couple of months . Bare in mind this was all done via telephone due to covid . Sorry for the long post im just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation we are all heartbroken she's  72 shes tired most days but thats only symptom she is suffering with at the moment, we would like to know what to expect .

thanks for reading 

  • Welcome to the Cancer Chat Angie although I'm very sorry your mother in law's treatment is no longer working.

    I can't begin to imagine how tough it must have been to receive this news but our community are here for you and I'm sure you'll hear back from some of our members soon.

    We have some information on what to expect in the last weeks and days just here but our cancer nurses are on hand to answer any other questions you may have. If you'd like to speak with them, they'll be available next week on 0808 800 4040 between 9a.m - 5p.m.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Hi Angie,

     

    Im sorry to read your MIL has been diagnosed with lung cancer. My grandad (more like my dad) who is also 72 has just been diagnosed with stage 4 metastic lung cancer. I don't know a massive amount about lung cancer, but from various appointments / reading up / info from doctors I do know it's a very unforgiving cancer. We have been offered 4 rounds of chemo and after his second session (next week) we will find out if his body is responding. If not, unfortunately the prognosis is 3-6 month for him. We are finding it incredibly difficult as he was only diagnosed over Christmas and still to this day doesnt have any symptoms. He was actually diagnosed from a swollen lymph node in his neck. 
    I'm sorry I can't offer any real support or answer your questions, but please know I am thinking of you and your family and every day I am praying for a cure for this horrible disease. Take care x

  • Sorry to hear about your mother in law. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in October. Sadly from October things started to go down hill fast. She was in and out of hospital because of pain, the cancer was in her bones. She lost her battle a few weeks ago. 

  • Thanks for the reply , im so sorry you are going through this too , i hope the treatment works for your grandad , its just awful , my mother in law is just taking each day as it comes its like we are juat waiting for her to deteriorate, dreading it if im honest x

  • Thanks for the reply im so sorry you lost your mother to this awful disease, my mother in law is in no pain at this moment but we have been told to expect it . X

  • Thank you.

     

    I can totally relate, my family and I are the same. We have no idea what to expect. I see my grandad every day and I can't see any change, so im really finding it hard to take it in. I feel like it's all one big mistake. It's awful how they can go from a diagnosis to a life prognosis within weeks. Sending lots of love 

  • Hi all

     

    My hubby was given 3-6 months without treatment one yr ago. He's been on immunotherapy only since June , had 4 rounds of chemo and immunotherapy. 

    Round 17 this week and see Consultant tomorrow for recent CT results. 

    The waiting is the worst. Waiting for things to get bad .... I mean there not going to get better. He has shortness of breath lots of mucus in morning but really looks well! How can that be?

    GOID LUCK TO ALL

  • Exactly ! My mother in law was told 3 weeks ago theres nothing more they can do , could have weeks , months . Everyday its like we are waiting for her to deteriorate shes looking and feeling fine at the moment apart from usual fatigue and she had stomach pains due to constipation but other than that to look at her you wouldn't think ahe has just been told she has weeks to live possibly. Im not naive though as 8 years ago my father in law was told the same and he went downhill pretty fast although he seemed alot more ill when told if that makes sense . Just taking and appreciating each day at a time x 

  • Morning

    Well after posting last night we saw the consultant today 

    The cancer has now grown in the liver and spleen (we werent aware it was in the spleen) but stable in his main lung tumour

    So immunotherapy tomorrow cancelled, chemo will start again and funding to be approved for a targeted therapy pill

    So, as we all said Who Knows. He still looks as well as he did before the initial diagnosis 

    We were told he'd need to isolate again! Really..... we've not stopped yet!