My father has recently been diagnosed with stage IV non small cell lung cancer which has mets to his brain (about 16 small lesions over three different areas of the brain), stomach and liver. He started chemo (two treatments of taxol/carboplatin so far) and radiation (ten treatments) about four weeks ago and has been experiencing all the side effects including extreme fatigue, loss appetite, changes to his sense of taste, mouth sores, yeast infections, red itchy scalp, numbness in feet and legs. However, over the last two weeks he's been experiencing increasing pain in his legs - he says it feels like he's walking on rocks and his calves and thighs are severely cramped. I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this happen. We're going in for an mri of his spine on Thursday, but I'm worried sick that the cancer has continued to spread. An x-ray from one week ago of his lung shows that the lung tumor is still increasing in size. (Initially it was the size of a baseball.) Also wondering for people who have been with those affected by brain cancer - my dad seems to be getting a bit more confused and the "pressure" in his head is increasing. Is this a precusor to more bad news? Thanks for any insights.
