I'm sorry your mom has chosen not to have treatment. While it is hear decision, I'd talk to her carefully to make sure she understands that quality of life is not necessarily a tradeoff if she gets treatment. Dr. West has an article on onctalk about studies that demonstrate that quality of life is preserved or improved in patients undergoing 2nd line treatments (that's what I remember it saysing--I'll see if I can find the link for you--here it is
http://onctalk.com/2007/05/22/survival- ... v-lung-ca/). Here is the conclusion:
But all of the studies I highlight above show that for the patients fit enough to tolerate the treatment, the agents that have shown a survival benefit don’t appear to require a choice of paying for survival benefit with quality of life. Instead, you can get the double benefit of treatment, especially if the therapy actually works well against the cancer.
Second, I would make sure that she is not making ths decision because of financial issues. If necessary take the bills she has received to the doctor/hospital and ask them to go through it with you to determine when and what insurance will kick in and whether there are resources of assistance if it is needed.
My mom is also stage IV and doing well 5 months after diagnosis. She got almost immediate relief from the pain her mets were causing once radiation began.
Again, it is her decision, but make sure she is not using fear or reasons that don't exist to make it.
Susan