Lung cancer surgery 3 weeks ago now need chemo

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Hi i was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and lung cancer within 2 weeks of each other. Fast forward I have now had hysterectomy for endometrial cancer and all good with no more treatment recommended. Had lobectomy for lung cancer 3 weeks ago and now they say it is in lymph nodes and recommend chemo. I am so scared of the chemo and all the side effects I have read about. I really thought I would get the same result as the endometrial cancer. Still very sore after surgery. Just confused and very scared. 

  • My typing is terrible, sorry, have to spellcheck to catch typosRofl or use a bigger screen.

  • Hi RoseW. Well I went for my appointment with oncologist today and they said my lung cancer was stage 2b. She said they would recommend 4 rounds of chemo but the thing is she said it only gives me an extra 5% that the cancer won't come back

    . She said without chemo my risk of it coming back is 40 to 50% with chemo it is probably 35 to 40, not very good extra odds for all that risky treatment I'm thinking. I have 2 weeks to make up my mind I hate decisions. I feel I'm dammed if I do and dammed if I don't

  • Hi Shas, I don’t know why the consultants put us in this position, I would much rather they said yes you need it or no you don’t. That is a huge decision for you to make. 

    I guess you have to think about how you would feel if it did come back. Will you be thinking at least I gave it my best shot, or regretting not having the chemo? It’s a tough one. When I look at your figures I see 35% best case compared to 50% worst case…… It has to be your decision, and I hope you have people close to you that you can talk this through with x 

    Chelle 

    Try to be a rainbow,in somebody else's cloud
    Maya Angelou

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  • This can be a very difficult decision to make, especially with the fear that surrounds having chemo, and I sympathise with you. I had 4 cycles of cisplatin and vinorelbine after surgery to remove my right lung. Personally I wanted to take every opportunity I was offered to reduce the chance of the cancer coming back and therefore I went ahead. It was not pleasant but wasn't as bad as I expected.

    My oncoogist told me that on average chemo would add 5 percentage points to my chance of longer term survival, so ssame as you're being told. That was in 2014 and I'm still OK thankfully. 

    It's a very difficult decision for some and it's one that only you can make perhaps with support from loved ones. I did think at the time that if chemo made me really ill or I couldn't put up with it I could always stop part way through, but if I didn't have it I couldn't turn the clock back to change my mind. As it turned out I did complete the whole course.

    I wish you all the very best whichever way you decide to go. If there's anything else you'd like to know, just ask.

    Made in 1956. Tested to destruction.
  • Thanks for your comment. So you are glad you made the coice to have the chemo then. It's just that 5 % doesn't sound good at all. The list of side effects they have given me is horrific. Did you lose all your hair and get really sick?

  • Hello Shas, much the same as I was told. The way I took it was that it was 5 percent better chance of my chances  of survival, so for me, it was a yes to treatment. 

    I am on the same meds as Excavator and have 1 cycle done now, so just 3 to go.  Very encouraging to hearing Excavator is doing so well, many years later!!!! Smiley

    The first week was hard. I felt very fatiqued and just stayed inside. Eating small bites every 2 hours and taking Metoclopramide for very mild, occasional,nausea, that is in addition to 2 or 3 other meds they give you, to stop nausea etc. Things are very much more advanced with nausea etc treatments, than years ago. In the unlikely scenario that you do have problems, they can control it, so I would not worry about that & I have not worries in that direction, no vomiting at all.

    I am a walker and really like to do an hourly daily walk but with the chemo, I have been temporarily reduced due to fatique. But last 2 days, I have done more like my normal, but just taking it slower.

    I am just back from a 1 nt away break, not far, but a little hotel, up the road, for a break. Different scenery and view and it lifted my spirit. If you can afford it, I think little treats of kindness to yourself, or buying a glossy magazine or coffee etc are a good idea, anything that is good for the soul.Hugging

    My chemo RN told me that my meds would not make my hair drop out and that has been the case. Actually thinking of colouring it today, as afew greys poking throughRolling eyes. To see a Nurse Prescriber today, in the Cancer Agency building, instead of a Consultant, to review things, so will let you know how that goes.

    Talk soon. I am finding the chats reassuring. Thanks everyone!!Kissing heart Rose

  • Hi Rose W. They told me it would be 4 rounds with drugs vinorelbine and cisplatin. They told me I would probably lose hair yet these are the same drugs as you aren't they. I have about 2 weeks to make up my mind. I am only 3 and a half weeks post surgery and am very sore and have a very dry cough which nobody seems to care about. I have had it since a day or two after surgery. They just keep saying it will go away and don't give me anything for it. It is alright for them because they aren't the one having to deal with it. I hope they are right and it goes away.

    I am enjoying the chats very much, very informative and helpful. 


    Thank you so much and keep in touch

  • Shas, you are still recovering from major surgery. U are doing great!!!Smiley

    I had the cough, usually in the am, after laying down post sleep. They do like you to cough in am, just to routinely clear the airways. I always supported my chest wall with my arms wrapped round my chest and coughed as gently as I could. I know they had an  " I Cough" reminder  in my recovery room, post surgery.Of course remembering to take pain killers around this time, so coughing can be gd too.

    But if u have a fever and the spit u are producing does not look normal, I would contact yr GP or your help line tel no, if you have one.

    At night I found a tablespoon of Manuka honey restful for the throat and cough tickle. Sometimes it was a tickle and I managed to ignore it and not cough.

    After sugery they gave me a little spiromter device to blow into, to keep a little ball in the air for exercise. I took that with me everywhere the first weeks, as I found it slowed my breathing pattern and gave me relief also.

    Will ask today about hair loss at my appointment. All good!!Ok handHugging

  • Yes, I'm glad I had chemo - it might have prevented the cancer returning so far but of course I'll never really know if it did and I think that's partly what makes it a difficult decision. I do remember thinking at the time that 5% is one in 20 people and if I was lucky enough to be that one in 20 I'd have hit the jackpot. 

    I too thought the list of side effects was horrific but they are obliged to give every patient full information on all possibilities - I guess you will have had some similarly horrendous possibilities given to you prior to surgery? If you have chemo you will be monitored very carefully to make sure you're OK and given drugs to try to prevent the worst side effects. If you react badly you can always stop, or they might suggest moving to alternative chemo drugs.

    I didn't lose my hair although it did stop growing and went a but thin - I didn't have a haircut for well over 6 months and used baby shampoo to carefully wash it during treatment and for several weeks after. I also didn't get really sick (didn't throw up once at all the whole time) but it's true to say that the effects do build up over time. Appetite changed (I lost weight which was not a bad thing for me) and I just ate what I felt like to get calories. Tastes changed but this reversed in the weeks after completion. I did suffer constipation and mouth ulcers and found from experience that my GP could prescribe treatments to sort these quickly and buying over the counter items from the chemist was a waste of money. I also took my temperature at roughly the same time each morning in case there was an increase sugesting a possible infection because it does affect your immune system. I didn't get any infections though.

    I was frightened at the prospect of chemo before I started and although it wasn't pleasant I didn't find it as bad as I imagined and my determination to complete it increased as treatment progressed. 

    I hope you can find a way to be comfortable with whatever decision you make and wish you all the best. If there are any specific questions you think of I'll try to answer to the best of my experience.

    Derek.

    Made in 1956. Tested to destruction.
  • Thanks Derek

    It seems to me an impossible decision at the moment, I just wish the odds were better. I can't believe what a shit year this has been and doesn't look like getting any better any time soon.

    Thanks for the comments, I do look forward to your comments. Had flu shot Thurs and have temperature yesterday and today, hope it is just a side effect of flu shot. I did a rapid test and it was negative. See how I am tomorrow.

    Shas