My Mums lung cancer returned for a second time and it had spread to her lymph nodes so she was told that she was now terminal.
She had 4 cycles of chemo and then has been undergoing immunotherapy since October 18. In Jan she had her 1st scan and one of the tumours that she had had shrunk by half, we were very excited by this. She had her second scan in May and on Monday we were told that the tumours were growing again and that the treatment was no longer working and they were taking Mum off the immunotherapy. To say we were shocked is an understatement.
We have asked on several occasions how many tumours she has only to keep being told they don't give this information out to patients and that they only focus on a couple of the tumours to see how the treatment is working, We have been told the cancer has not spread to any other organs but they have basically told us that there is no other treatment she can have. My Mum is not ready to give up yet! Can she fight this decision and demand that they give her more treatment?
Hoping someone may be able to help.
TIA Dotty a
Hi and welcome to the Online Community, although I am so sorry to see the circumstance that brought you here and so sorry to hear about your mum.
There is no reason why she can not get a second opinion just follow the link below to some Macmillan info on this.
You may also want to look at these forums where you can connect with others supporting family and friends through their cancer journey: Carers Forum and Friends and Family Forum and Supporting someone with incurable cancer
A cancer diagnosis can bring a lot of stress on a family but talking with people who are on the same journey will help a lot and will help reduce the whirlwind wind that is rushing in your head.
Follow the links and join the groups. To do this hit the ‘Join the Group’ tab just under the main group name. At this point go to the right on the group home page and select how you want to receive email notifications when someone answers your posts. If in the future you don’t want to receive notifications just switch off the email notifications tab.
The best way to get support is to go to the 'Start a Discussion' tab just under the main group name. Set up your own Discussion and Introduce yourself to the group - you could just copy an paste what you have in this first post.
You may also find our various Macmillan Support Line Services then call them on 0808 808 00 00 to be very helpful covering Emotional Support and Practical Information. Clinical Information and Financial Support and Work Guidance mostly open 8.00 to 8.00 but check the link.
We also have our ‘Ask an Expert’section where you can post questions to our mostly Volunteer Experts but please allow 2 working days to get a reply.
Talking to people face to face can help a lot so check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support Groups in your area or a Maggie’s Centre as these folks are amazing.
When you feel up to it thank about putting some information in your profile. This really helps others when answering. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself.
To do this click on YOUR username, look to the left and select 'Edit Profile'. Put as much or as little in your profile and you can amend it at any time - REMEMBER hit the big green SAVE before you leave the page. If you're not sure what to write you can take a look at any members profiles by clicking on their username.
All the best.
