Hi everyone,
I have recently joined the site after logging in frequently since April 09 when my mum was diagnosed with SCLC. I now am getting to realise how 'big' this disease is and how important this site is to people affected by cancer. In the early weeks, I would look at all the blogs related to SCLC to try and gain as much info as I could, this has helped me so much. I would love to hear from anyone who is also affected by this cancer type, and learn of their experiences along this rocky road.
FormerMember
Sorry you had to join our wonderful site but I am sure,now you are part of the 'family' you will be glad you did.
Sorry about your Mum,I have NSCLC and not sure if you can get any info about treatment,results and things your Mum might go through by following my journey which I have put on a journal for my friends to keep updated.
If it helps,click on my link and scroll down to the earliest date,as thats where journals begin.
A good friend of mine was diagnosed with SCLC last October with mets to the Liver.
She's been on chemo and has had radiation to her Liver and is doing well but recently discovered mets in her brain. I pray for her and her family nightly-she has two young daughters without a Dad.
She is doing very well, far beyond the 3 months some bonehead told her she had.
Lung cancer does not get the support it needs probably because of 'smoking' yet u do not have to have ever smoked to get it.
I stumbled onto this site, and it has become a very valuable place to me, cuz of the ppl here.
thanks to yorkiepaul and mike c. I will take some time to look at the journals, i am quite new and hadn't yet realised how to do that, My mum is 65 and was diagnosed in the same way that lots of people are diagnosed which is when she was having an ultrasound for something else, in her case, to see if she had possible gallstones due to some pain weeks beforehand. There were no stones, but liver secondaries were found, that was April 1st, and after undergoing various tests, biopsy to liver, CT etc., the primary was found Left Lung SCLC. She was told there was no cure but treatment could be given to control the symptoms. She started chemo at the end of May and has done well, just finished 5th cycle, and having a blood transfusion today, which is her second throughout the 5 cycles, and she has not been sick at all and has coped really well with no major symptoms. Now though, I think she is thinking that she is getting to near to the end of her treatment, 1 to go now, and then as she wont be treated, the cancer will start to grow, she has seemed quite down the last week or so, and before that had been quite stable for a couple of months, after the initial first few weeks. Her consultant has briefly spoken to her about cranial radiotherapy after chemo for five days but that is as far as it goes at the moment. She has asked not to told everything about the future, but asks for snippets of info here and there as the time goes on. I however, research the internet and know that at some time, whether it be weeks, months ahead, that road I spoke about earlier, is definitely gonna get rockier, I dont know how I will cope, I dont want to see her suffering.
Mike I hope your friend is keeping her chin up during this difficult time, cancer is like a whole seperate world once you are affected by it and realise what a massive disease it is. Yorkie C I am going to look at your journals now, keep well Joaniex
Hi joanie my mum has sclc so i know what you are going through and you sound very similar to me in searching the internet for as much info as poss. my mum also does not want to know any timescales but realises that there is one. She was diagnosed with sclc in dec 08 after being at the docs for chest infection that wasn't going away. After a scan if showed a shadow on her left lung. Turned out to be cancer and it was confirmed on xmas eve :o(
In january she went through such agressive treatment loads of chemo followed by radio to the chest area and finally radio to the brain. In april we were told her lung wasa completely clear! Couldn't believe it! But in june she went for a scan as her eyelid was a bit droopy. initially she thought the radio had damaged some nerves but it turned out to be a tumor of 3cms in her neck leaning on a nerve. So she only had six weeks rest before she had to start chemo again this time on a clinical trial. Started in june and scan in aug showed not growth but a few tiny spots then scan at start of sep showed 2 more tumors one on her lung and one in chest somewhere. They've taken her off the trial as obviously hadn't worked and now she on chemo again. We're aware that this is the last option for mum but hey why there's still treatment there's still hope. Next scan in 6 weeks will be the deciding factor in terms of time i think. In june the doc said she had months as opposed to years, how many i don't know. I feel like i'm almost grieving already for her as inwardly i'm so full of sadness as i know she'll not survive this disease. Let me know how you are getting on. It helps me a lot chatting to people on this site. There are so many amazing people out there going through a similar sitiation.
Just managed to find your post vickyp, so sorry to read what must be very similar to my mums illness. Mum also has tumour left lung, you can see from my blog post of today that she has done well though chemo and last one tomorrow. What then?
I see that Mums diagnosis is a few months after your mums and I have been through so many emotions in the last six months and yet I know there is much worse to come, thats what I find hard to cope with at times, let alone how it must be for Mum. Im sure you know just where i'm coming from, I can only imagine that emotionally, you must be feeling so down and with a little one to take care of too. Try to keep your chin up and take each day at a time as I'm sure others have said to you, I hope your mum gets some success with her new treatment, keep in touch Joanie x
