joseph2

Thank you Tom. All your points are well taken. Especially those regarding air travel. She seemed ok when we went to London last June... but it definitely took a lot out of her. She has had this horrible cough since before the first surgery, but it's definitely worse now. She takes a couple inhalers, but they don't seem to do much. What have you done to help with the coughing? Thanks again.

Thank you Tom, It's definitely a recurrence of LC. What concerns me is the rate of growth with lack of any action... and now waiting 6 months before the next scan when we know we have tumors doubling in size and popping up all over the lung (at least not spreading outside this as far as we know). We are familiar with the EGFR treatments, but I thank you for the link... One more site to read won't hurt. You are correct that she does not really want to impact her quality of life... but one of the drug's side effects are fairly mild... and she could always stop if they got bad... I didn't want to ask the doctor what this meant on life expectancy or when we could expect Mom to be more symptomatic than she is (she has had a horrible persistent cough since before the surgery 1.5 years ago). Mom is planning on taking us all on an African safari in June (which I have no idea how she will be able to do... especially since it's a 14 hour flight)... I mentioned this to the doctor and she didn't seem to think it was going to be a problem (delusional?). Anyway, I welcome input from anyone with similar situation. Thank you again.

Mom had 1/2 of one lung recected 1.5 years ago and has been getting scans every few months. Her latest scan says the following: "Evaluation of the lung windows demonstrates the patient to be status post RIGHT upper lobectomy. The central airways are patent. There are increased multiple RIGHT lower lobe nodules. For example, subpleural RIGHT lower lobe nodule on series 4 image 44 measures 11 mm, previously 9 mm. RIGHT lower lobe nodule on series 4 image 38 measures 12 mm, previously 9 mm. Subpleural nodule on series 4 image 34 measures 15 mm, previously 6 mm. Several new pulmonary nodules are present, including 13 mm RIGHT lower lobe nodule on series 4 image 47. There is no parenohymal consolidation. No pneumothorax. No aggressive osseous lesions. " This is reflecting a change of 3 months of growth. From what I was reading, a growth of 7mm to 9mm (2mm growth) is a doubling of volume. She is positive for EGFR and in her early 80s. She doesn't want to do any further aggressive treatment (chemo/radiation or surgery), but her oncologist NOT recommending starting any of the EGFR treatments and is fine with her waiting until mid May (6 months from now) to do another scan... Am I the only one that thinks this is a bit crazy??