No treatment options.

hi ,i am so sorry that no one has replied to your question,pollen ,I cannot give you any answers ,but your aunt should have a lung nurse or someone who could explain things to you all ,maybe a bit clearer ,i hope someone can advise you soon

Thank you so much for your reply.

I understand why no one else has. I have struggled to find other families where zero treatment has been offered. 

My aunt is refusing to talk to anyone now. 

Mum can't speak to anybody without her permission so we are left in the dark.

It's not unusual for there to be no treatment options available for people whose cancer is diagnosed at a very advanced stage.  Once people are sufficiently frail, even palliative chemotherapy or radiation would do more harm than good.

The medical focus is likely to be on keeping her comfortable, which includes managing pain and other symptoms as well as possible.

We've come to expect a lot from modern medicine and are often shocked when it can offer little.  The most useful thing you can do right now is support your mum in whatever ways are possible.

Hi Pollen, I am sorry to hear about your aunt, and I can understand how upset you and your mum are to hear there is no treatment being offered. As Lolie has mentioned, this unfortunately can happen if the cancer is too advanced, or if the oncology team believe that treatment will do more harm than good. 

There are other support groups here in the Macmillan community where you may be able to connect with someone going through a similar situation to yourself. There is the Carers only forum  and Family and friends forum  and also Supporting someone with incurable cancer forum 

If your mum needs support to help her through this time, please do give her the phone number for the Macmillan support line. 0808 808 00 00.