My Mum is 74 and was diagnosed with NSCLC Stage 3b back in April last year. This was a shock as, although an ex smoker 20 years previously, mum is very fit, never been ill and still working.
She was put on 2 x Chemo drugs and immunotherapy and after her first scan there was shrinkage. They then reduced the chemo to just the one and she continued with this alongside the immunotherapy. After her second scan there was marginal growth, but they said to carry on with the plan for the next 3 rounds and then review. Today we went to see the consultant following he most recent scan. It was horrible because I knew something was up when we were put in a room and the doctor attended with the nurse. He has basically said that Mum's tumour (in the upper left) has grown but there is also more cancer in the chest area. This means the treatment - immunotherapy/chemo is not working. He talked to us and it came across as very bleak even though he was lovely.
He was not at all optimistic about a second line treatment helping mum but said he would try it. He kept saying that we would have to have a conversation about whether to continue treatment if things continued as they are now and more words to that effect. It really felt like he was basically saying, mum's life was very limited. At the end it was agreed that mum is going to have 5 sessions of radiotherapy on the main tumour to help shrink it and help with the breathlessness and hoarse voice. He then talked about a chemo drug called Docetaxel. I asked him about Nintedanib (vargatef) and Docetaxel combined as I had done some reading and he said that he didn't think it would add any benefits for mum.
Mum is still determined that she will be here for a few years yet and happy to go for all the treatment they can throw at her.
I just feel so very scared and want to hang on to any thread of hope I can. Her cancer is still confined to the chest which I thought was a positive, but clearly not. I am also feeling angry that they continued with the same treatment for another 3 rounds (3 months) despite the last scan showing marginal growth. To my mind this should have meant a new treatment plan. Why continue with something if it's not helping?
Sorry for the long post. I am all over the place right now.
Hi flatcat , and welcome to the group, but sorry you find yourself here. It is heartbreaking to see a loved one go through the treatment, to be told it’s not working. I think your mums team continued with the initial chemo and immunotherapy to give it its best shot of working. They wouldn’t of continued it if they really thought it wouldn’t work. It’s just such a shame it didn’t. I went through something similar with my own mum, so I really do know how you feel.
I hope the radiotherapy will help with the breathlessness. Does your mum see the oncologist again after the radiotherapy to discuss chemo, or is that already being arranged ?
