Stage 4 sclc

Hi there,

I'm in a similar situation.  Though it's important to remember that everyone is super individual, I am willing to share my experience.

My mum (who is 75) has COPD and has been treated for pneumonia several times over the past 2 years.  Last month she was diagnosed with SCLC, but it hadn't (and still hasn't) been staged.  As you said, it was surreal because she was fairly asymptomatic and seemed really fine.

We met with her oncologist pretty quickly and they started her off with a low dose Chemo session which she took like a champ.  However, unfortunately 5 days after the initial session she had to be admitted to hospital with an infection and low oxygen levels.  Her white blood cells took a nose dive down to extremely low levels and she is still in hospital being treated for her infection two weeks later.  Her white blood cells are slowly recovering and so hopefully the fight against the infection is being won.  However, due to this (and some other co-morbidities), it's been decided that she cannot continue with chemo.

I'm waiting to hear from her oncologist consultant what the next steps are.  I am hopeful that after her infection has cleared up that we can have her back out of hospital into some respite care so she can be happy and well looked after with appropriate pallitive care in place.

Wishing you all strength going through this.

Thanks very much for that. You too x