Lung cancer.... What do you know?

[pig]

Sorry to hear that. I don't know much about it but I would bet that the American Cancer Society web site has pleny of information that you'd do well to read. Best of luck to you and your family.

[Artemis Windsong]

A lot depends on where you live and how big the medical facility is.

My brother is recovering from melanoma surgery from a dead cancer on his left leg. He went from central Wyoming to Colorado for treatment.

When you can step back from the shock.

What you need to do is find out how and if this treatment is covered by insurance. If not, can they qualify for medicaid. Cancer is expensive and everyone needs a rider policy to cover it. See if you can get a policy on your mom.

The emotional toll is bad on everyone in the family. Let all famly members know and find out what kinds of support they can provide. A facebook page or family e-mail chain will keep everyone informed and reduce that contact work.

The hospital social worker can be a resource on emotional and financial support available. Call your pastors and get on the prayer list.

Pray. There are miracles everyday. Amen.

ETA: Start or continue an exercise program to positively work off the stress.

[daisylu]

My only coworker in my department for the last nine years passed away last week at the age of 50. He had a different type of cancer when he was younger, so he had full body scans done every year. When they found it in 2008 it was already in stage 4, which gave him a 15% chance of living five years or more. He had part of a lung removed, but it had grown into his breastbone. The chemo that he received every 3 weeks kept it from growing, but did not reduce it. He could not receive radiation since he had it with his first cancer battle decades earlier, which would have made a HUGE difference..

The medications that they gave him to fight the chemo side effects worked well for him. He was rarely ill from it - mostly just tired. The 3 years that he fought it, he was looked great. He rarely lost weight and if he did it went right back on. To look at him, you would have never known.

He said the hardest part was being isolated. He could not take any chances catching someone else's germs, and always had sanitizer on his desk. Sadly, he developed pneumonia in mid-January and never recovered.

The one thing that he would want you to know is how important it was that people treated him the same as they always did.

[Genuine GA Peach]

I don't have much to add...except virtual hugs. Take any help you are offered.

My former step mother is a breast cancer survivor. She's a chain smoker, and they have now found spots on her lungs. After all she's already been thru, I can't fault her for not quitting smoking at this point.

when your dad starts treatment, he may be very sensitive to smells. I had a good friend who survived adult leukemia. His wife told the nurses not to bring any food in the room; just leave the tray outside the door & knock. She'd go out, see what was being offered, let her DH know, and if anything sounded good to him, she would bring that item ONLY to him. BTW, when he was diagnosed, they only gave him 6 months. That was about 15 years ago. He's checked annually, and completely cancer free. He had a bone marrow transplant. As Artemis said, miracles do happen.

[bobosensei]

My mom has been in remission from lung cancer for many years now. They caught it early, when she was hospitalized for pneumonia. It was actually her regular doc who looked into the lung scans when he thought something was off. Had he not done that they probably wouldn't have found it until it was too late. They removed the top right lobe of her lung laproscopically (sp?) and she required no chemo or radiation. Every year she has a body scan done, but it's been more than 5 years and she is still fine.

My mom had stopped smoking about 15 years before she got the lung cancer.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

A lot depends upon the stage of cancer as to what his prognosis is.

I don't know any other than what my mom was diagnosed as. She had Stage IV when it was diagnosed, which has a prognosis of weeks. As I remember it, Stage IV is defined as the primary tumor in the lung and it has metastized to another organ, I *think* liver, pancreas or brain. My mom's metastized to her brain stem and in fact, her ONLY symptom was double vision, as it was sitting on her optic nerve. She was also a smoker.

Most important is how they stage it depends upon how they treat it. In my mom's case, her only treatment was radiation to the metastized tumor on the brain stem as pallative, to alleviate the double vision. The lung cancer didn't cause her to die, but the metastized tumor in her brain that did the dirty work. It was inoperable and at a place where chemo could not have reached it. Had the tumor had not metastized, her lung tumor could have been treated as it was small and relatively localized.....in fact, small enough that they missed it the first time they examined her tests!

I think you need as the doctor the stage, how he plans on treating it and what the prognosis is for the treatment he has planned and why he's planning this particular protocol.

[Artemis Windsong]

I also posted my brother's case on an energy healing thread. This is the response on what/how they helped.

[HoneyBBQ]

I work in this field... you can pm me more info or questions if you want.

Things to ask:
What imaging are they going to be doing? CT? PET? TC-99 scan bone scan?
What kind of facility are you going to? Is it an academic center or is it a community hospital?
How are they verifying the cancer? Through fine needle biopsy?
What kind of treatment? What types of radiation delivery methods to they have?
What is the staging? How far has it spread?
Are the physicians and physicists at the radiation oncology center board certified?

[HoneyBBQ]

wrongside-

Looks like the Doc is associated with Michigan state, so that is good. I tend to lean more towards academic practices because they have more clinical trials, more staff, and frankly, are more likely to do a better job IMO.

The bone scan will tell you have much or how little it's spread. You can't tell for certain without tissue data (biopsy) that it is cancer, but unfortunately what you've said doesn't sound good. It IS good that he doesn't have any symptoms and is fairly healthy. If he has widespread disease he will probably need chemo assuming it IS cancer.

Let me know once they make a diagnosis - if something else lights up on his bone scan they may be able to figure out where the nodules are coming from. I am hoping for the best for you and your dad.