Confused

This will be a long post sorry,please try and bear with me. We are Brits living in Bulgaria. 

Nearly 12 months ago my husband had a swelling in his left thumb. By March it had grown significantly and he was sent for an x-ray. Cyst in the bone we were told. As Covid had arrived we just left it. Fast forward to May, his thumb was huge,another x-ray. The Gps eyes nearly popped out of his head! Went to see a surgeon,who sent us to another surgeon etc etc. Eventually after an MRI cancer was diagnosed. After biopsy,it was squamous cell,with probable lung origine. Two weeks later husband had horrendous rib pain.  CT scan followed. Resulted in a laminectomy. Also a diagnosis of NSCLC. Fast forward to the present.  He started chemo/ immunotherapy treatment October. He had a PET- CT scan after 2 treatments, nothing apart from his adrenal glands lit up. His lungs now have one nodule that 7mm and is ' inactive and without dynamics compared to the previous CT scan'. I. Having to translate his notes from Bulgarian to English on Google translate. It says nothing about his thumb,which btw now has no pain and swelling is minimal,his back looks good,no metastisis anywhere else.

Im not a doctor,I know this is good. But it's stage 4 lung cancer.we both expected downhill and no progress. Stage 4 is terminal. The doctors are stumped too. Anyone else have anything like this happen?c

  • Hello Janeabeth

    I'm sorry to read about your husband's diagnosis but it's great to hear that he's responded so well to the treatments. I'm sure that this has been a relief although I can understand that you may both be feeling very anxious about things. 

    We do sometimes have members posts who have been given a stage 4 diagnosis and gone on to have a remarkable response to treatment. You might find it interesting to have a look at DaveK's story here

    Presumably the team looking after your husband are going to continue monitoring him closely and I do hope that you continue to have good news. 

    Keep in touch and let us know how you both get on. 

    Best wishes, 
    Jenn
    Cancer Chat moderator 

  • Thank you Jenn.

    Think I am in shock as recovery was the last thing we expected. 

    What an amazing story DaveK's is.

    My husband has just had cycle number 4/6. It is so different here in Bulgaria. His treatment entails staying in hospital for 2 nights each time. He is given injections so side effects are minimal. The food is appalling though! Apart from some aching and slight hair loss he's feeling brilliant. Apart from over the counter pain relief he's on no medication. Got to say it's not what I was expecting at all. I've got everything crossed he continues to be well. CT scan in January to compare against the PET-CT.