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Some powerful tips! I will translate any that apply to her current situation for her. Step 5 will be a tough one though, the last four scan/biopsy results were inconclusive or negative and she is feeling worse every day. Hard to keep your spirits up then. The tumor is pressing against one bronchus, she actually feels it dangling when she breaths. Combined with COPD she is having a hard time doing anything more than sitting, she is out of breath after walking even a short distance. The cancer is spread to her spine and also causes some back pain. I have no idea what the qualifications are of the person(s) doing the scope procedures. The only thing I know is that it is a different person every time, I will check with her later. She did decide today to change further treatment to another (larger) hospital. That hospital is very well known in the Netherlands (where I come from) and specialized in cancer treatment.

Thanks a lot for your insightful answer. Based on what you mentioned above pretty sure the first two were flexible scopes. She didn't have full anesthesia. I guess it happens more often that attempts to biopsy lung cancer fail. Hope the next one will increase her chances. She might get a rigid scope next time, but she wasn't able to confirm that. I am sure the physician told her, but she was probably too upset to understand the new procedure. She needs to go to another hospital for this procedure because they have additional equipment (scan?) that are not available in the local hospital. I don't think she has medical problems that would make anesthesia risky but the cancer presses against the bronchus and she has COPD. That might complicate matters. I am sure the physicians are caring an do their utmost to help her. That doesn't mean they can't make mistakes. I hope it is just bad luck or that all procedures were necessary to determine where the cancer is located. Needle biopsy hasn't been discussed yet - from what I have understood that can be even more uncomfortable. BTW. my native language isn't English so please excuse any mistakes

Hi - we received the devastating news that my mum has inoperable stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. That was determined by analyzing a biopsy of the 2nd bronchoscopy procedure a few days ago. The first one failed totally and now it seems the 2nd one didn't obtain enough cancer mass either. She is very upset by the news that it failed again, because she is afraid of this procedure. The biopcy taken was also needed to determine if she could start with immunotherapy instead of chemo. The timer is reset again, we are already waiting for a few weeks and now we need up to another two weeks before new results are available. In the mean time the cancer just spreads and it is pressing against her bronchus so she is afraid she will choke. The other problem is the bronchoscopy procedure itself. Will they now be able to take enough material if they try the 3rd time? Is this a medical mistake or just bad luck? Should we start looking for another hospital? Lung cancer is already bad enough, but we really need to avoid her suffering unnecessary. Any advise how to handle this situation?