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Hi DK, Im also in AZ - my Dad was diagnosed with Stage IV NSCLC about a year and a half ago. I've been wanting him to try medical marijuana if it helps with side effects. Can you tell me which strain of cannibis and dispensary you use? thanks!

Hi Chime, My dad was 72 when diagnosed at Stage 4 Squamous Cell Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. He is now 73 and over a year and a half since diagnosis. From all I read, surgery with chemo after is the standard of care. My dad was a lifelong smoker who had COPD at the time of diagnosis and so little lung capacity that they couldn't do surgery so they did this new type of radiation - Radiosurgery on the spots on his lung and spine. That procedure was successful in "killing" the cancer in those spots, but he also had a spot on his liver which was inaccessible for that treatment. My dad's o

My Dad Started chemo on May 12 (Carbo/Taxol). He had treatments once a week for 4 weeks then a week off. The last few visits, his bloodwork wasn't what the Dr thought it should be, so they didn't give him the Carbo, just Taxol. Last week, Dr called out of the blue and said he wanted Dad to get an abdominal ultrasound immediately. The following day, Dr asked us to come to his office. It seems the chemo has caused some damage to Dad's kidneys. Now they've stopped chemo until kidneys recover. Question to anyone is, what does this "really" mean? Are we facing a small blip or hitting a wa

Thanks Tom! Dad had follow up with radiation dr today. He told us that the cancer found in dad's spine was "dead"! No growth in the last 6 months. Dad feels good, but really tired and consitipated frrom chemo. All in all, he's doing well. Just wish he felt well enough to do something though....

Hi Meloni, I'm pretty new here myself, but as a caregiver, I know that if my dad asked to do chemo alone, I wouldn't be offended. If he asked my mom to let him go alone, she would have a hysterical fit. So, everybody's different.... If you can talk to your MIL and she's not an overly sensitive person, maybe you can tell her that you want to go alone so that you can meditate or listen to meditation CD's. Maybe if you bring such a CD and close your eyes (basically ignoring her), then she will understand. I would say that you should tell her, not ask your husband to do it - so that

Tom, Thank you for the reply and the article (I haven't yet made it through, there's quite a lot of technical jargon to look up along the way) If you don't mind my asking... What age were you diagnosed? Were you a smoker? My dad is 72 and was a lifelong smoker - quit only after had to go on O2 at night - so his lungs were too badly damaged to do surgery to remove the cancer.

Thank you for your insights Terribirdy. My dad is stage IV Non Small Cell Lung also, but he doesn't seem to have the EGFR or ALK mutations. When was your husband diagnosed? You say "it isn't a cure", but my parents think that chemo is going to "cure" him. In fact the radiation doctor actually told them that he had "killed" the cancer spot on his lung. I wouldn't think they would use terminology like that knowing there is no cure. I just can't bring myself to believe that my dad will be cured, but I can't tell him that.

I have been trying to find information on the progression of NSCLC and all I find are really general statistics about the 5 year survival rates. I'm really looking for real life examples of how this disease progresses. My dad was diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC over a year ago. He's been getting chemo and we get very generic and often very cheery (in my opinion) explainations of the results of his CT scans from his oncologist. Oncologist: "Good news, the cancer hasn't grown or spread" Me: "Has it shunk?" Oncologist: "Well, no, but it's not gotten bigger or spread" I don't

Dad went for 12 week checkup today - has been on Opdivo and has been feeling pretty good. However, he hasn't been on any chemo yet. Everything I read about Opdivo says that it is for "those who have previously been on platinum-based chemo." The doctor, who has been the only oncologist that my Dad has seen, seemed to think that Dad had been on some chemo previously. I'm concerned that the doctor hasn't been paying attention, since he never prescribed chemo, just Opdivo - and I'm worried about what the concequences of having not had chemo on his prognosis. Any thoughts from th