kbastian

As the adult daughter of a dad with stage 4 NSCLC, I'm overwhelmed and lost when it comes to figuring out what the best course of action is for me. I live about an hour and a half away from my parents and spend lots of time with them, but am feeling like as my dad gets worse and worse I want to be there more. I work full time and am in graduate school as well. Putting school on hold is easy, figuring out work is harder. I know about the family medical leave act, what I don't know is how to decide when to take it. How will I know when it's time? Obviously I don't want the disease to "hurry up" but I'm so confused and scared about doing the wrong thing and not being there when my parents need me. Anyone been in a similar situation?

About a year ago, my 74 year old father was diagnosed with lung cancer, and the only realistic treatment option for him was in radiofrequency ablation. Now another tumor has developed, and he's going to have RFA again. He's being treated at Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston, at a cancer center affliated with Dana Farber. I know these are supposed to be among the best hospitals in the world, but the experience we're having has been far from stellar in terms of communication. It also seems like there might be other hospitals that are more familiar with RFA and other more cutting edge treatments. Does anyone have experience with Rhode Island Hospital, and in particular a doctor named in Damian Dupuy? From my research he looks like a leader in this field, whereas the doctors at the Brigham are not. We feel very lost in all this and would appreciate any advice people may have.