my mom who has small cell lung cancer (diagnosed Feb 21/06) has just finished 4 rounds of chemo (3 days for 6 hours a day every 3 weeks), 2 more to go and then she has to begin radiation (as far as we know-if the doctors think she can handle it) once she's done her chemo. the chemo is definately taking its toll on her. she is very concerned about what might be in store for her and is thinking of not following through with the radiation. if i remember correctly she will be given radiation in her chest, brain and possibly stomach, 15 days in total possibly longer. has anyone else gone through radiation of this nature and what sorts of things were experienced? sometimes it's better to know & be prepared before going forward. thanks.

thank you so much it's such a help to hear what other people have experienced - it will put her mind at ease somewhat, she keeps hearing horror stories and is considering not having the radiation, i will pass your story on to her. thanks again and the best of luck with everything.

senga, back in august 2005 my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. They found it through her body, brain included. She recieved 20 doses of radiation, 5 days a week for 4 weeks straight. The radiation did in fact reduce the size of her tumors but within a few weeks we started noticing that she was not functioning the same. Her motoring skills,( i.e. feeding herself, combing her hair, putting on lipstick) were becoming more and more difficult for her. This would not improve but actually get worse with time. It was not easy to watch at times, but I believe the radition was needed. The results and benefits far out weighed the risks. I just wished the doctors had informed us of this prior to the treatment, but they didn't, and it sound like you haven't been either. Good luck, and take care.

thank you that helps - my mom has other ailments on top of the lung cancer (parkinsons, diabetes, brain anneurisms) so the radiation is a huge concern for her. is your mom getting back to a (somewhat) normal life now? i guess its hard to really know what to expect when everyone has different reactions to the treatments. thanks again, Agnes

agnes, my mom past away a short time ago, but no, she didn't ever get to be quite the same. I know that the radiation did shrink the tumors in her brain though. i feel that you should have your mom go through with the radiation, but perhaps not tell her of the possible effects. she may not want to go through with it . you really should speak with her radioligist, they'll have some answers for you, but if i can be of anymore help please let me know, i know this is a difficult time for you, my thoughts are with you. take care

I've seen lots of people make it through lung Ca treatments just fine. The most common toxicities involve esophagitis, mucositis, that sort of thing. Basically the radiation burn stuff is to be expected but it has to seriously affect your PO input before they would consider holding treatment. And like others have said the chemo gives the radiation an extra kick, helping it shrink those tumors, unfortunatly that can lead to some other toxicities. But they monitor labs very closely, so there are protocols for pretty much all the expected adverse events. Lots of the patients I've worked with are getting the (PCI) Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation after thier lung treatment. Cause the lung cancers tend to go to the brain if they are going to spread anywhere. Thats why they call it Prophylactic, its preventitive treatment, from what I've seen it's increased the survival rates a good deal.

-Derek-