I am new to this site and my mother in law was diagnosed with stage 3b lung ca after feeling short of breath for a couple of days. She went into her primary care doctor and had an xray which should a pleural effusion. She then was scheduled for an outpatient thoracentsis under ultrasound to remove the fluid, in which they drained off over 1 litre and sent her home the same day. She felt instantly much improvement of being winded. She awaited days for the labs to return and was told she had lung cancer. Further workup with CT, blood work, etc. she was told she had nsclc and her pleural effusion was back and needed to undergo having a pleurx-tube placed to continue to drain off the pleural fluid building up in her left lung from the primary tumor. She had the catheter placed and was sent home the very next day. She drains the catheter every other day and pulls off 500-600cc every time. Her oncologist gave her the option of pallative chemotherapy with a prognosis of possibly 1 year and untreated 6 months no chemotherapy. She had made the decision to fight this and start chemotherapy following a trip she had previously made to visit her daughter. She has an upcoming appt. for her pet scan to see if other areas have been affected not showing mets on the CT scan. Speaking with numerous medical staff in which I work the prognosis she was quoted by her oncologist seems generous in time. I visit her house and drain the tube every other day for her and offer her all the love and support I can. She has asked me my thoughts about the chemo and I feel like I am caught in a rock and the hard place having medical knowledge and being inside the situation. How do you convey to someone who has had their whole world turned upside down in the matter of weeks that you are terminal and lifes choices now are about quality vs. quanity. Doctors always seem to leave out the ugly stuff about the aftermath of chemotherapy to include chronic fatigue, nausea, those are a cake walk to the serious side effects of renal/liver failure, neuropathies of the hands/feet, anemia requiring hospitalization for blood transfusions. Can anyone relate to this story and give me any feedback about her prognosis and future in store.