Hi! I'm Nicki. First of all, get a second opinion from a teaching hospital, if you have one near you. I can't tell you how vital that is. I wrote this on someone else's page, but I'm duplicating it here. My father was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 1999. I was 14 years old. It is now 2012 and I still have my father in my life. He lives on his own (for the moment) and he is cancer free. Insane, I know. WHATEVER happens, and I'm telling you because I've been on the brink with my Dad several times, you just love them & you don't ever, ever give up.Get to KNOW her doctors. I am my Dad's primary caregiver. Doctors are not God and they need to be reminded that the patient is a Mom or a Dad, etc. Even when I am NOT with my Dad I make sure I have ALL his doc's names, numbers, etc. I find one nurse who is helpful & stick to her like glue. I try to get info on all the scans/tests FROM THE DOC, not my Dad since he can't always be 100% "there." I never let them silence me, even if I feel like I'm bothering them. When he was diagosed initially in 1999, he had mets all over his brain, brain stem, lungs, in his shoulder, neck, airway, etc. They told my Mom to "go home and prepare your children." At that time, the treatment was full-scale radiation to his head & midsection as well as incredibly tough chemotherapy (taxol). Against ALL ODDS my father's cancer was gone in less than a year. I will say that this old-style of treatment caused a lot of problems (my father was severely affected by the radiation to his brain. It was so intense that it burned shut one of the veins in his neck, so that's caused ongoing neurological issues. He has had 3 recurrances since then, including brain mets and one adrenal met. The first recurrance was in the lung 7 years after the initial remission. It was caught and surgically removed. The second recurrance (which was one year ago) included lung & brain mets. Those were treated with "Cyber Knife" or stereostatic radio surgery. Those mets disappeared 8 weeks after his last cyber knife treatment. The third recurrance happened just at the end of this past year. He had one lung met & the adrenal met. He was treated with Avastin for several months. Now he is, incredibly, cancer free. Four times now!! Just found out a couple weeks back. The doctors are always telling us it's not possible. They always say he's going to have cancer forever. The problem for us nowadays is the fact that all of these treatments have taken a serious toll on his overall health. He has short term memory issues, balance issues, blood clotting issues, peripheral neuropathy. It's really like he's much older than his age on paper of 68. He's more like an 80 year old man. That makes him sad. But I always tell him YOU ARE HERE, and that's what matters. I hope this story gives some of you out there HOPE. It is POSSIBLE to go on after a Stage IV diagnosis. My Dad was 55 and now he is 68. Love to all of you out there suffering. If you would like to contact me, please feel free to private message & I will be more than happy to speak to you. You can speak to my Dad too!! If you like. He is a very talkative, very inspiring character. He's amazing to me. :)