CancerCompass message board discussion started by slj1229 on 6/27/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,25473,0.htm Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ My grandmother had non small cell lung cancer 15 years ago, she had lung surgery and radiation. Then it came back 3 years later to her other lung, she again had surgery and radiation,3 years later it came back but this time in her brain. she had brain surgery and full head radiation. We found out this week that its back, she has 2 spots on her brain and multiple spots in her bones and a tumor on her spine.  They are doing radiation for her back and bones to help with pain, then the gamma knife for her brain.  They sent her home on some pretty heavy duty pain meds, my question is they seem to be only treating the pain, the doctors will not give us a time line, but I know that is will not be long.  She is throwing up all the time, and is very weak.  Can anyone that has gone through this give me an idea of how long we can expect her to live like this. slj1229 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT Why didn't the doctors do a PET scan to make sure they got everything?  They should have looked for brain mets because that's where lung cancer likes to head to not to mention to the bone.  They should have been doing scans every year, at least, to make sure she was still clear.  I'd question their ability to really care about you mom.  My mom was dx a stage 4 NSCLC without any symptoms, except a small pain in her shoulder (bone mets).  They did a chance x-ray of the shoulder and found the tumor in her lung.  Don't give up.  You need to stay on those doctors and be a pest, literally.  When they say "We need to do this.." say, "Why? What will that accomplish?  What are my other options?  What will the side effects be?"  When they say, "This is all we can do for her." say, "That's not acceptable and I want you to find out another way."  Search the internet, find information, call her doctors and ask them to explain it to you, what you found out and will it help your mom.  They should be giving her something for the nausea and vomiting.  They have pills for that!  They have pills for every possible side effect in the book.  Don't take no for an answer.  Good luck.Gretchen Motherhen Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 6/27/2008 slj1229 wrote:My grandmother had non small cell lung cancer 15 years ago, she had lung surgery and radiation. Then it came back 3 years later to her other lung, she again had surgery and radiation,3 years later it came back but this time in her brain. she had brain surgery and full head radiation. We found out this week that its back, she has 2 spots on her brain and multiple spots in her bones and a tumor on her spine.  They are doing radiation for her back and bones to help with pain, then the gamma knife for her brain.  They sent her home on some pretty heavy duty pain meds, my question is they seem to be only treating the pain, the doctors will not give us a time line, but I know that is will not be long.  She is throwing up all the time, and is very weak.  Can anyone that has gone through this give me an idea of how long we can expect her to live like this.I wouldn't worry about how long she might live, but rather focus on making every day she has left the best it can be. Talk to a reputable herbalist about herbal and nutritionalsupplementation.  You didn't mention chemo, so there should be nocontraindication in taking herbs, supplements, and natural foods tohelp her be as well as she can be.  There are lots of things that can help:  ginger for nausea, cola syrup also for nausea and vomiting (you can buy that at an old-time pharmacy.) If you can hlep her keep things down, then you can start building her up again. garlic for immune system and to help fight cancer cells.  even an aspirin every day will help fight cancer, but it needs to be enteric coated and taken with food. get her to eat at least one apple a day, all the grapes she can tolerate, especially red grapes with seeds.  White mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, maitake mushrooms - all of these are good. She needs anti-oxidants - green leafy vegetables and cabagge, dried beans (bean soups might stimulate her appetite) and peas, corn, tomatoes in any form. Black currents if she likes them. Pomegranate juice is great. Encourage raw fruits and vegetables as much as she can eat, and good fresh water.  If she can't eat much raw foods, try lightly steaming them or stir frying with very little butter or oil.  Meat  right now is not her friend - takes so much energy to digest the protein, and can really overload her kidneys.  Soft boiled or gently scrambled eggs is a good way to get her to eat, but again, go easy on them, because that kind of protein can really overwhelm her system.  Any kind of whole grain product is an excellent choice.  Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, squash, roasted pumpkin seeds - all these are good choices.  Just go easy on overloading them with dairy - dairy proteins are harder to digest and while very tasty, take up a lot of room and energy that could be better spent on fresh produce and fruit.Blueberries, strawberrie, rhubarb, plums, grapes, oranges, melon, peaches, pears,  raspberries - any of these or any other fruits or veggies that appeal to her should be encouraged.  All these can be put in a juicer or blender to make smoothies that might be easier for her to take. TIf you have a local herb shop, or someone local whom you trust that knows about herbs and relieving nausea, talk to them first and tackle that problem right away.  Then you can start working on the other things I mentioned.My best wishes to your granma.  take care of yourself, too.Sincerely, Tre   trehouse60 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT