What is the survival rate for this type and stage of cancer? I look at sites and see a timeframe of 1 to 5 years, I've also seen 15 to 18 months. This is the frustrating part of this disease - you never know!
What is the survival rate for this type and stage of cancer? I look at sites and see a timeframe of 1 to 5 years, I've also seen 15 to 18 months. This is the frustrating part of this disease - you never know!
My dad was diagnosed with non small cell lung cancer, stage IIIA, he went on for a year then the cancer spread to his bone and it became stage IV at that point. Dad passed away 6 months later. So from his initial diagnosis till he passed away was only 18 months. You have to remember though that everyone is different. Not much worked for my dad. He tried chemo, radiation, Iressa, nothing was combating this thing.
Just take things one day at a time. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
K.
Why if he began with radiation and chemo, would they want to stop chemo?
Dad had one round of chemo, before his lung surgery (to shrink the tumor) and two rounds of radiation, one round before his lung surgery to shrink the tumor and then one round of radiation when the cancer came back to his bone. After all of his treatments he was feeling better, he was back on his feet, then within a few months the cancer returned to his lungs. He was offered chemo but he declined. He tried Iressa for 6 weeks but the tumors in his lungs were just multiplying. The cancer was so aggressive at this point the chemo would not cure anything, maybe only slow it down and make him live another month or two. Dad's feelings on this were, why should I go through with the chemo, I am going to feel lousy again and it will only prolong my suffering. The family respected his decision and we then called hospice. 6 weeks later dad passed away peacefully in our arms.
My brother has finished his treatments of radiation and chemo. In May he will go in for testing and a week later speak to the doctors. He lost a total of 60 lbs and none of his hair. Also, a lot of muscle tone is gone. He joked that he'd have to do an Arnold S workout and I said 'yes, you'll be back' and he said, 'I'll be back.'
What is the survival rate for this type and stage of cancer? I look at sites and see a timeframe of 1 to 5 years, I've also seen 15 to 18 months. This is the frustrating part of this disease - you never know!
This was something i found when my Dad was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer. I couldn't get him to travel that far to cancer center across the country, but i did get him to get a second opinion at Stanford. Unfortunately it has already spread to stage 4 and it seems that chemotherapy is all they can do for him now. His first treatment session will be on the 31st of this month. I know that you asked about stage 3B and they refer to 3A, but it might be worth looking into... good luck my friend!
At Vanderbilt, three-year survival for Stage 1 lung cancer is 77 percent, compared to 55 percent nationally (data from the National Cancer Database).
The difference is even wider for Stage 2 and Stage 3A cancers. For Stage 2, Vanderbilt's three-year survival rate is 93 percent, compared to a national average of 34 percent. For Stage 3A, Vanderbilt's three-year survival is 49 percent, compared to 16 percent nationally.
Roberts attributes much of that difference to a difference in treatment regimen between community providers and an academic center that performs a high number of lung cancer surgeries each year.
Early stage cancer is best treated with surgery alone, Roberts said. In more advanced stages, the standard in the community is to do chemotherapy and radiation alone, whereas here, we typically follow chemotherapy and radiation with surgery.
Last edited by Racetricks; 03-25-2004 at 10:36 AM.
Last March my mom was diagnosed with advanced small cell lung cancer. After 2 courses of chemo and several second opinions, we just found out (about 1 hour ago) that she actually has Stage IIIb Non Small Cell Lung Cancer. The doctors want to treat with Radiation and more chemo. She has never had lung cancer symptoms (found by routine chest x-ray) and now we have to decide what to do next. She doesn't want to think about it, which I can understand, but we children can't stop thinking about it. It's hard to think of my mom getting radiation therapy (it sounds like a bad experience), can anyone offer their thoughts/experiences with radiation and chemo treatments?
Thanks,
Elizabeth
My brother's experience with radiation was that it was very difficult for him to eat, and at times to swallow even water. He had a lot of Ensure type products that were milk-shakey and had nutrients. He lost about 60 lbs during treatment which was about two months. Also, the radiation causes your skin to be 'sun-burned' especially his back and shoulders - it all depends on where the cancer is located. After his treatment, cat-scan results showed it shrunk down to 30%. Going forward he will continue chemo and he does have to go back for more tests on May 4. He has been and still is on oxygen. Doctor wants him to wean off but he hasn't been able to yet. The docs gave him a mixture that he drank to soothe his esophogus (sp?) but it didn't help.
Be aware that problems with hemorroids can also develop.
Thank you Sawbuck 44, your information was consistant with others I've spoken with. My mom has her doctor's appointment tomorrow to discuss treatment options. My sister and I are going with her. I think she's going to opt out on the Radiation, but you can never be 100 percent sure what your decision will be until the doctor speaks the words; she may change her mind. And then she's got my 8 year daughter who told her, "I don't want you to die so soon, Grandma." And then the older grandchildren saying, "We were thinking the same thing Grandma, we just didn't say it." With that kind of pressure we adults just try to support and listen.
My brother was retested and was given good and bad news. The tumor has shrunk. I'm not sure of the size before and after. There is scar tissue in his lungs. He was told to go on SSD because he will not be able to do the work he does now due to lung capacity. There is also cancer showing in his liver. He had a chemo treatment and will have another next week. He meets with the doctors on 5/11 still so he'll get more info then. How can they treat cancer when it is in the liver? thanks and God bless!
__________________
If you open the door even a little bit - the devil will fling it open. Keep it closed with prayer.
Hi- I am sorry for your brothers bad news. With my husband, they replied on teh chemo therpay to shrink, or keep the lesions on his liver at bay. I do not want to sy much about it, I can only tell you what I have heard from Doctors. It is my understanding, cancer in the liver is very hard to treat, but NOT impossible. If caught at an earl stage, they have a better chance of treating it. It sounds liek maybe his is an early stage. It can be treated with surgery, radiation or chemotherapy...or a combination. It depends what stage it is in.
My husband cancer is small cell. With my husband, they say he is at a terminal stage, so by the time they found the cancer in his liver, they say there is nothing they can do to remove it. If you look at my previous posts, you will see that we do not agree. I believe with God, all things are possible. And, a will to live! Notice that I say "they say" a lot? That does not mean we have to believe it and give up, they can say whatever they want!
You would want to get the ok from his Doctor first (very important), but I recommend finding an herbal supplement that he can take, just for a little support for the body, There is no herbal cure, but there are herbs that can help the body with it's natural processes. My husband takes quite a combo of herbs, all approved by his oncologist. If there is a health food store near you, talk to them about this, and they can help you find a good supplement.
I will tell you, my husband and I did MUCH research, an spoke to several people to decide what was best for his condition. The 3 things he will NOT do without are IP6, bone defense and a liquid called "cell food". The bone defense is becuase they had to replace his hip. The IP6 has great cancer fighting agents, and the cell food increases his oxygen.
I wish I could tell you more, I do wish you and your brother the best of luck!
My husband has NSCC and was given 11 months, that was almost 9 mths ago. He went thru the regime of radiation and several chemo's, however he has had severe reactions to most of the chmeo medcines, blood transfusion once and hospitalized once as well. Now we are on the drug Iressa, which is still experimental. He still has energy to entertain our 2 yr old son. He sleeps most of the day while I work. I truly believe attitude and support play very important factor. I can only HOPE-and Pray. Good luck and my thoughts are with you.
Hi, well this is the second time since I last posted that my brother has been in the hospital. The first was pnemonia and now it is a multitude of things, pleurasy, constipation, not sure what else - he is at the hospital right now. I just got the phone call. Does anyone have any experience dealing with pleurasy?
thanks and God bless us all.
__________________
If you open the door even a little bit - the devil will fling it open. Keep it closed with prayer.
I'm afraid to be happy about this but my brother's tumor is gone! He had developed a small spot on his liver that his doctor feels confident will go away with chemo. Other than a cracked rib and eatting issues as well as breathing - he's getting a bit better. Still sounds tired whenever I talk with him. This is what they call remission right? So, it can come back?!
__________________
If you open the door even a little bit - the devil will fling it open. Keep it closed with prayer.
Hi, just thought I'd give an update on my brother. He had a real bout with constipation for over a month. They gave him supositories, enemas, and some meds and finally that issue is okay. He still has a hard time swallowing some types of food - mostly meat and breads. He has lost a lot of weight, but it is not just due to his limitations of what he can it's what he replaced it with and the fact that he no longer eats three hugh meals a day - now he eats 4 to 5 small meals. Every day he drinks a Boost, eats lots of fruits and vegetables.
He has stopped chemo for a bit due to the rib not healing. He sees the doctors in a few weeks so I'll update again after that. At this point, the mass in his lungs has all but disappeared though there is some scar tissue and he does have it showing in his liver. His lung is collapsed and they are hopefully waiting that it opens on its own. They don't want to disturb the cancer cells by forcing it open. He is still on oxygen. For a while he wasn't taking phone calls or returning any, but we all understand and he knows we do and that we want to support him in any way we can. Take care.
__________________
If you open the door even a little bit - the devil will fling it open. Keep it closed with prayer.
With this disease its hard to tell. My father had his whole lung removed 6 years ago and was considered cancer free. He also had NSC with a large tumor in his left lung. He was fine for 6 whole years. 2 years ago he developed bone pain, hip pain, stomach burning, His yearly chest x-ray was clear and normal. This past Feb he had shortness of breadth, and Pnumonia. Doctors felt it was a pnumonia pocket on his upper right lung. Never got better with antiobiotics. Biopsy was neg, CEA level was 53.1. Well to make a long story short it ended up being the beast we all feared had came back after 6 years. We still dont know if his bone pain was related to this. He took Irressa for 15 days and just got worse. The tumors just grew faster. My beautiful dad passed on May 16th. He just suffered 1 day. The last week his appatite was not good, I guess his body was shutting down. We consider this a blessing since he did not struggle with breadthing and other problems. Just get the best care you can and pray. It helped me. Even though dad is gone he is still with me and I pray for every person and their family who have to fight this disease.
Today my brother - he's 49 - is getting two pints of blood. He went to the doctor asking him why he had no energy and cried all the time. His rib still has not healed. The doctor checked his blood it was down to 28 way too low. Hopefully the transfusion will give him more energy. He still has trouble eating certain things like bread.
Tomorrow he goes in to have a CT scan. Doctor said it was possible that the cancer mets to his bones and that's why the rib hasn't healed. We won't get the results until 8/19 (my sister's birthday). If it has metstasized to his bones, it means there isn't much time left doesn't it?
God bless us all.
__________________
If you open the door even a little bit - the devil will fling it open. Keep it closed with prayer.
