On 8/7/2009 Scott L wrote:
My father was diagnosed with lung cancer yesterday after being rushed to the ER with pains in his stomach and back. The tests also revealed the cancer had spread to his liver, kidneys, backbone and possibly his brain. He started his first Chemo today and the doctors said he has had this cancer for about 2 yrs but will not give him any kind of prognosis. Can anybody out there tell me what the future holds for my father? He seems to feel ok right now , but that may be the pain meds taking effect. Any suggestions will be welcome.
I had my Stage IV lung cancer diagnosed late also, had spread to back from lungs. No one can say what will be the results of treatment. There are so many possibilities of it working and giving your father many more years of life with quality. He wants to keep feeling OK. He needs to hit on the right treatment for him individually, keep his body otherwise as healthy as possible with eating right, taking supplements, exercising, having good endorphin-producing days, and hopefully having treatment from a major cancer center where they are experts in their field. I went to SCCA in Seattle immediately because the Stage IV cancer was too serious to take any chances not necessary. I was put on a clinical trial with Tarceva plus Avastin and it took my tumors to nothing in about 1 month. The Tarceva worked for another 5 months and then started to lose it's power over the major tumor in my lung. It started growing again. I felt well throughout. The Tarceva side effects were mimimal. I'm now on Carboplatin and Alimta chemo treatments. My very knowledgeable oncologist wants to to stay on this for 4 treatments, each every 3 weeks. He'll see after the 2nd treatment, with a CT scan, whether the medicine is killing/making inroads on the tumor. He has many other options. I'm also now going to a naturopathic oncologist who is using other thngs like supplements, and acupuncture, and relaxation techniques, to help with the cancer treatments. My husband and I have been trying to do this on our own and do not feel that we use the proper amounts of each supplement, etc. The Naturopathic Encologist field is relatively new and we're so thankful we could find a good Dr. in Dr. Reilly. I'm thankful to hear your father is feeling well. Quality of life is so important in this Cancer battle. Hopefully, you can keep that up. You'll read of many different lung cancer cases here. I just read the other day from a patient who wrote in that he praising the Lord for 3 or 4 years of good life on Tarceva, after having 2 brain radiations, and some other thngs. It looks like your encologists are aggressively getting after that cancer: one day after diagnosis is good. There is much hope for your father and most encologists hesitate a lot to give a prognosis. I suppose they might do the "3 months" if they'd tried all they have to try and nothing works and . . .. You're a long way from that. Tarceva is usually given as a 2nd try at treatment. You might want to bring it up with your encologist. And, keep reading here for encouragement and ideas that work. You take a day at a time and aim for quality of life. I was given a big boost from the beginnning. My daughter had just prior to diagnosis loaned me a book called "The Shack" which is about a man who had a terrible thing happen in his life and he was MAD at God. God invited him to the shack for the weekend so they could understand each other. Mission accomplished. I now can visualize walking through the woods talking to Jesus and he's lovingly guiding and giving guidance and hope and love. They have 16 stacks of this best seller in our local Costco, have had for about a year. Worth reading. Hope some of this helps. This is new to you and very scary.