Post pneumonectomy - what next?

1. Hello  I've got a different type of cancer to you but am just answering to 'bump' your post up.

I'm so sorry you're going through this... I am on immunotherapy which is know is different to chemo. However my step mum, who is 82, has stage 4 bowel cancer and she was given 3 months to live....3 1/2 years ago. She has chemo every other week...and yes she gets tired, and she has sores in her mouth, but she still enjoys a glass of wine and goes out for dinner every night at a restaurant. Please dont give up hope....there is always hope. I too am on anti depressants.... Give them chance to work and hopefully you'll feel better than you currently do. 

Statistics can be scary ..but we are all different and everyone's cancer is different....why shouldn't you be one of the 5% who makes 5 years ...and in 5 years time there will be something else to throw at this damn illness. Please don't give up.... Come on this forum and talk to us all...we're all in the same crappy boat... Just please don't give up. Xxxxx

Hello Geoff 1950, I'm very sorry to hear you're struggling at the moment following your surgery but glad this itself was successful. 

I also had my right lung removed - in 2014 - and recovered pretty well from surgery. I faced the same decision over chenotherapy shortly after but fortunately was not faced with the depression you find yourself with. I was given the same 5% potential advantage which I understood to be based on statistics of surgery survivors who had or had not undergone chemo over many years (I will now be one of those of course). I think that if a person is in resonable health otherwise the survival advantage simply must be higher, it cannot just be a random thing.

I know adjuvant chemo is a tough decision for many, although having gone through the surgery I was prepared to throw anything else I could at it to prevent the cancer coming back. I did think of two general reasons in favour of chemo though. First I would have found it very difficult to deal with a situation where I had passed over the opportunity if the cancer came back, especially in the first year or two, and was scared to maybe have to face that level of regret. Second I could start the treatment and stop at any time I chose if I didn't like it or couldn't deal with side effects, it's not compulsory to finish the course.

I had the full 3 months, my chemo was vinorelbine and cisplatin, the latter is a similar drug to carboplatin but said to be a bit more aggressive. I did find side effects uncomfortable but by following hospital advice and with my own GP's help got through to the end without major problems. 

I'm sorry that can't offer any comment on chemo and depression other than I experienced no change in mental state throughout and after treatment. Maybe your GP could offer some advice for you on this aspect?

I wish you all the best in making your decision which I know is not easy, and a future successful outcome for you whatever you decide to do. Do ask if there is anything more you would like to know.

Best wishes, Derek.

Thank you Derek, Elsie and Buttercup for your replies. I have until the end of October to decide what to do. Hopefully I’ll be better mentally and physically by then and make the right decision. 

• I’m pleased I’ve joined the forum though. It helps to make contact and hear from others who are suffering from this dreadful disease rather than hearing what the statics and percentages are. It’s just so sad that there are so many of us! 
  
  

I do hope you choose treatment as there is always hope. Since I've been in this horrid situation I've heard about so many people who were only given months etc and yet here they are, years later. 

I know personally of people who have had chemo and haven't suffered a load of side effects.

I know at time things can feel bleak, and we all have a down and dark days, but please hang in there...you have to give yourself a chance xxx

Thanks Elsie. Nice words that give me hope. 

Hi Geoff, ive had a similar treatment to what you're being offered for NSCLC..  Apart from 4/5 days the week after treatment i was living a pretty normal life.   Volunteering 2 mornings a week.. Housework and spending time with friends, the odd lunch out too.   The 4/5 days after treatment i felt very tired and a bit of an upset tummy and nausea.   I slept a lot and watched TV!     I've had a very good result from chemo, my tumour has shrunk considerably.   Please dont be scared, its really not that bad and well worth it.     Take care. 

Hi Geoff. Sorry for the late reply. This reply is my first post. I've been hovering, not knowing whether I want to be in the forum.

I had my left lung removed last November. There was concern that the hilum would have been compromised by the proximity of the cut to the tumour. Because of this I was originally offered chemo, the same combination that you were offered. With the same percentage numbers that were given to you. Like you, I was on the fence.  Probably veering more towards going without. But then the odds changed a little. They were concerned that I may not tolerate the chemo because of potential cardiac vulnerability . Then by the time they alleviated those concerns, I fell outside the effective time frame....& as the odds seemed low to begin with... I decided against.

I have pretty chronic copd. So I've been struggling with the one lung while the cancer has been making its mind up.

1. Over the past few months I've gone from being able to walk the dog, albeit slowly, to just about being able to walk down, & then back up a 25metre garden. I know that even without the recent decline in lung capacity that chemo would have floored me.

In truth, this is all an exercise in facing fears. I have times when breathing is difficult. Thoughts turn to God, suicide, methodology, deeper fear, then back to God.

None of us want to suffocate.

If chemo was going to help, I'd be running towards it with open arms. There are a lot of frightened people with cancer & I feel that sometimes the health service dishes out plasters to no effect other than to show love. Which is all any of us want. 

Good luck making your decision. 

Where's there's treatment there's hope. I don't read or want to be informed of possible side effects as you can talk yourself into them. It is the scariest of times that everyone will eventually face up to death but tommorrow is promised to no one.... one day at a time, one breath at a time and small pleasures. Eat as healthy as possible and walk as much as possible without pushing yourself too hard. Good luck my friend, we all need a bit of it. X