My dear wife

Hi Dave, 

I just wanted to treat out to you and share my experience so far as my dad has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer.

My dad has a 5.6cm lobe in the right upper lung with spread to the r4 lymph node in the mediastinum. Because of where the cancer is, and the lymph node being near the heart cavity, they are unable to operate so my dad is receiving 12 weeks of treatment - 4 cycles of 3 weekly chemo and 6 weeks (in between) concurrent radiotherapy. He is then being offered 1 year of Durvalumab. 

With the diagnosing for your wife, it will all depend where the cancer is, how big it is and where in the lymph nodes it has spread as to what treatment they offer. We were told no surgery due to the location of the tumour and spread to that lymph node - it is stage 3B locally advanced lung cancer my dad has been diagnosed with. He starts chemo on Monday. I think the biopsy will be an important part of the jigsaw piece in terms of treatment because they do histological testing on the cells and tissue to see what kind of cancer it is specifically with gene/ mutation testing which is important when looking at treatment options.

It might be worth speaking with the lung cancer nurse in the respiratory department that your wife will have been referred to? At our final apt before the treatment plan, the lung cancer nurse said they'd known from early on that surgery wasn't an option. You could always ask, hypothetically with the info that they have now - is surgery an option, is it not? what other treatments MIGHT they offer. They might be reluctant to say now as to not get your hopes up but you could always say that you understand things might change but you're just wanting to try and gauge where things are.

Please reach out if you have any other questions

Adele

Hi Adele thanks for the reply my wife's tumor is7.8cm and in the lower right chamber but that and the pet scan showing nymph lode spread is as far as we have got so I can't say much more at this stage. My wife is 69 so lots of living yet to do. I will try and ask the lung cancer nurse next appointment.  Hope your dad's treatment works out well and he has many good years after all the treatment stuff is over. For me personally I feel healthier than I did before my diagnosis so it can be done ,good luck .Will let you know how things progress 

Thanks 

1. Hi to Adele or anyone else looking in. Sorry I haven't kept this up to date but things have moved at a tremendous pace. My dear wife had to biopsies and the cancer was spreading she was due to start chemo/imuno therapy in February and weekend before had severe pain in left hip which we put down to a trapped nerve got to treatment with help of walking frame and wheelchair nurse was alarmed at hip pain so xray which showed Cancer had spred to bones and top of femur had crumbled she had been walking on a broken hop fot 2/3 days so partial hip replacement  and treatment delayed 12 days later came home from hospital hospital for 5 days then had a bowel blockage so back in hospital luckily fixed without surgery so home after 5 days but scan showed spread to Kidneys. The following week treatment started again had a chemo ok then second one caused a bad reaction so that one cancelled while thy tried to decide what next by this time house bound using ambulance to get to and from doctors or home visits. Sadly on 4th April (day of next visit to consultant)ar about 2.15 am she coughed badly and shouted to me for help she was poring blood from mouth and despite mine then ambulance attempts at cpr she passed away at about 2.40am. The following afternoon I had a phone call from oncologist I had a scan 2 weeks before to check that my bowel cancer was still clear which it was in bowel but they spotted a nodule on right lung so one week after had a Pet scan and as nothing was there on my scan in December  22 and the pet scan lit up brightly and previous cancer it is 95% sure to be lung cancer so now have  had lung function tests snd seeing surgeon  on 3rd May almost certain to need operation very soon and I haven't  even buried my dearest Linda yet. Sometimes I wonder if Mother nature has some kind of grudge against my family. I really wish that it could be reversed and let my wife have the smaller nodule and survive I would of happily taken the cancer which my wife had and allowed her to survive.but I am determined to beat this if only in remembrance of her.. cheers Dave 

Hi Dave,

I am so sorry to hear this news about your wife and to hear that you are still in the throes of treatment yourself. It's a very heavy load for anyone to bear. Like you I sometimes wonder why Mother Nature (or the powers that be) overloads some people and spares others. Some of us get more that our fair share of ill health.

I hope your surgery and treatment goes as well as possible and that you return to good health. I am sure that your dearest Linda is looking out for you.

Take care

Miranda