Hi all
I've been visiting this site for a while and have decided it's finally time to come out into the open.
I'm here because my dad got diagnosed with NSCLC in October '04. We don't know what stage it's at but I do know that he has a tumour in the top right of his lung which is 2 or 3 inches (I guess between about 5 and 7 cm) and that it has also spread to the lymph nodes in the area. The doctors recommended 4 rounds of chemo and Dad just had the fourth round yesterday. Not long after his third round he had a scan (well before Christmas) but he just got the results yesterday when he went in for the last session of the chemo.
We're disheartened that the scan only showed slight shrinkage of the tumour. we're still hopeful that the 4th session of chemo will shrink it a lot more, but we don't really know what to expect next because my parents live in Northern Ireland where the National Health System is so under resourced that he never gets to see the same doctor twice and his appointments are always so rushed that he doesn't get given much information.
So i'm turning to you to see what other people's experiences have been. is it "normal" for there to only be a slight shrinkage after three quarters of the course of chemo, and could the fourth session still make a big difference? what will the options be if the tumour still hasn't shrunk much after the last session? my dad is 61, is quite fit and has handled the chemo well.
I hope you don't mind my questions but i'd love to be able to tell my dad a bit more, and hopefully to show him that there's still hope yet.
thanks, and see you around!
Nicky