do you know why they have said your not fit for surgery it's one of my worries as I have other health problems and a wheelchair user and a lack of strength in my body due to being mostly bedbound, I'm sorry your going through this x
Had a CPEX test to see if I was fit enough to have lung cancerous nodules removed been told not fit enough now waiting to see oncologist for radiotheraphy
I'm sorry you've been told you can't have surgery. I understand how petrified you are but maybe I can try to reassure you.
My husband had a 9cm Pancoast tumour in his left lung. he was told it was operable but his surgeon wanted him to have neoadjuvant radiotherapy and chemo to shrink the tumour before surgery.
The radiotherapy oncologist was confident that the radiotherapy alone would shrink the tumour and no surgery would be necessary, but the chemo oncologist insisted that he should have chemo too and the surgeon was insistent that surgery was needed. Reading between the lines we think they may have had a bit if a tiff.
Turns out that the radio oncologist was right. Hubby had concurrent chemo and radio. Halfway through the radio and after only 2 chemos the radiologist told us that he was having to consult with the oncologist and recalibrate the initial planning as the tumour was shrinking fast.
2 months after the radiotherapy finished a PET scan showed the tumour had shrunk to half its size with low grade uptake. The radiotherapy oncologist said in her opinion the tumour was now a bunch of dead cells that would be absorbed into his system as the radio keeps working for several months after and that there was no need for surgery.
The surgeon still insisted that he would do surgery in case there were any stray live cells. Turns out the radio oncologist was right again. Hubby had a left upper lobectomy last year when the histology results came back from the mass that was removed, they confirmed that the cancer was completely dead. No live cells, clear margins and no lymph node involvement. The final result from having grade 3A cancer was now T0 N0 M0 PL0 R0.
My point is that all of these experienced and skilled professionals were confident they could treat this cancer within their own field of expertise. There are many different treatments available. It turns out my husband didn't really need the surgery, although the zero confirmation was hugely reassuring; the radiotherapy had done the job by itself without the op.
Surgery isn't always the gold standard; advances in radiotherapy mean that it can be massively effective in curing lung cancer. My husband had 30 treatments over 6 weeks and tolerated it well. he was tired and had a nap most afternoons but that could also be travelling backwards and forwards to the hospital every day. His skin was a little sore like sunburn for a few months but nothing terrible; he had a sore throat and altered taste.
I've shared this in the hope that it will help you feel less terrified and give you some reassurance that surgery isn't always the answer and radiotherapy can be effective and not as bad as you might be anticipating.
Found out just after Xmas by chance I had cancerous lung nodules was under lung consultant who carried out tests ct scans and pet scan then referred to surgeon for lobectomy had a cpex test and not fit enough for surgery now referred to oncologist for radiotherapy but appointment not till June that's 4 weeks since surgeon said I wasn't suitable for operation worried about how long I've waited for this appointment
