Hi all my wife has been give 12 to 24 months by the cancer doctor but may have an extra 3 to 6 months if she has chemo, is it worth it with side effects for the extra time ? Any thoughts would help
Its a difficult one for sure and I wrestled with the same feelings , How big a spread does your wife have ? It’s hard to tell on the forum how Sick someone currently is . If you click on my user name you can read my mum’s story .
She actually was very unfortunate with her side effects but the second year of treatment I would say she communicated better and a small decrease in her does really reduced her symptoms and brought a better balance of quality of life again .
Despite terrible side effects it turned out chemo was very effective for her and allowed her to become operable . I think for my mum whilst it was doing some good she was willing to work with chemo . However if it did not achieve much she would most definitely have reviewed the situation.
The other aspect is despite a difficult diagnosis and prognosis there remains a subgroup of patients who do particularly well with chemo . My mum had a spread to her liver then a few years later her lung but just happens to be very chemo responsive . So for her it was worthwhile trying for sure .
We do have a thread on managing side effects of chemo and tips from other patients if you would like to read about it some more .
I dreaded the thought of seeing my mum Sick . I did have to see some of that but was also able to offer support to her . It’s not an easy time at all . How are you coping yourself .
Sending ((hugs)) to you both. It might depend on the type of chemo you are offered, some are more aggressive than others, some more liveable with. Maybe try? If too bad, then at least you know everything was tried.
