My husband who has never smoked was recently diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. It was a complete shock and we are still trying to come to terms with it. He starts radiotherapy in a week’s time and I believe he will have chemotherapy or other treatment after that. At the moment we are feeling in limbo. I am really worried as I feel he is rapidly going down hill. He will eat very little and is wanting to sleep most of the time. Should I be worried? I was expecting this after treatment but not beforehand. Any advice would be gratefully received.
Hi Fortune welcome to the group, but I am sorry to hear about your husband. It is a terrible shock getting this news. When I found out about my lung sarcoma, I lost a lot of weight because I just couldn’t eat. The stress of the diagnosis and not knowing how I was going to react to treatment, had a terrible effect on me and I lost my appetite completely. I think this is a common thing for people at this diagnosis stage.
I had an operation to remove a tumour in my airway, luckily this was done via a bronchoscopy so it wasn’t open surgery, and then I had 5 days of high dose radiation. The radiotherapy will make him tired, and it may be difficult for him to eat, so I would advise getting some fortisip high calorie drinks in, if he doesn’t have an anthers will help you get the calories and protein in him.
You may find that once he starts treatment you will start to feel a bit better. The fear of the unknown is a terrible thing, but once you get the first one done, and get into a routine, you do start to feel better. I think you feel like you are getting some of the control back, because like you said you feel in limbo at the moment.
Being told you are stage 4 is frightening, but lots of us here are living proof that you can still have a good life on treatment. I myself have been stage 4 since 2014.
Thinking of you both, and wish you both the very best.
