NATALIEKATE Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 HI MY NAME IS PAM, MY HUSBAND HAS LUNG CANCER. THE CANCER HAS SPREAD TO HIS LYMPNODS AND HIS BRAIN. HE STARTED TREATMENT IN JANUARY WITH CHEMO AND RADIATION. HE HAS RECEIVED 2 GAMMA KNIFE TREATMENTS FOR THE TUMORS ON HIS BRAIN. THE MOST RECENT SCAN OF HIS LUNG SHOWED THAT THE TUMOR THERE IS ALMOST COMPLETELY GONE. HE IS DUE FOR A NEW SCANS IN AUGUST. HE HAS DONE AMAZINGLY WELL UP TO THIS POINT. HE HASN'T BEEN SICK AND HAS CONTINUED TO WORK THROUGH IT ALL! THE BAD NEWS IS THAT HIS MRI ON HIS BRAIN HAS SHOWN AT LEAST 5 NEW TUMORS. THEY ARE TELLING US HE CANNOT HAVE GAMMA KNIFE AT THIS POINT AND THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE IS WHOLE BRAIN RADIATION. HE RETURNED TODAY AFTER HIS APPOINTMENT WITH THE RADIATION ONOCOLOGIST AND HE WAS TOLD BY HER THAT THERE SHOULD BE VERY LITTLE SIDE AFFECTS FROM THE RADIATION. HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO WORK AND DRIVE. EVERYTHING I READ ABOUT WHOLE BRAIN RADIATION HAS SCARED ME. MAYBE I'M READING THE WRONG INFORMATION. AND THE DOCTORS AREN'T ALWAYS WILLING TO COMMIT TO CERTAIN QUESTIONS AND I DO UNDERSTAND THEIR POSITION. BUT I REALLY NEED TO KNOW HOW THIS TREATMENT WILL AFFECT HIM SO I CAN BE PREPARED TO HELP HIM. CAN ANYONE HELP. I HATE TO SEE HIM SUFFER NEEDLESSLY, BUT ULTIMATELY IT WILL BE HIS DECESION. THANK YOU FOR ANY HELP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ztweb Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Nataliekate, Welcome to the boards. I am so sorry for your husband's diagnosis. Be sure to put the history on your profile as we can see what your husband has been through. Does he have small cell cancer? What stage? Did he do chemo rounds? How old? I don't know much about whole brain, but I do know that many, many people get through it fine. I understand that often the side affects are not seen until well after completion, and that some don't see side affects at all. Stay strong and know you have a wonderful support system here. Keep us posted! God bless! Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna G Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Welcome Pam. Glad you found us. Your husband is still working so he must be relatively young. Do you know if he has Small Cell lung cancer or Non small cell lung cancer? Although as it has spread outside his lung they usually never do surgery on the lung in either diagnosis. What are the names of the chemo he had? The news that the tumors in his lung are nearly gone is great news. I have friends that have had Small Cell lung cancer and have had total brain radiation to prevent it showing up there and they are 5-6 years out and doing well. Waiting to hear more. Donna G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Welcome! Sounds like your husband is doing pretty well. I don't have any info on brain radiation but others can counsel you on that. Keep us posted. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsC1210 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Hello Pam and welcome I am sorry you had reason to find this site but glad that you have joined us. Like Don, I cannot give you any information about the radiation, but wanted to say hello and welcome~ Sending prayers and positive thoughts to you and your husband, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoastLadi Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Pam, First hello! My husband just went through WBR a he finished about 5 weeks ago, he went for 20 rounds and he did just fine!!! I think the worse things for him were, #1 he became extremely tired, but he rested when he needed to rest and secondly I would say that he had was a bad burn on the back of his head, eventually it went away, the radiologist prescribed something called "silvercreme" - ( i think it was that), probably what you want to do is make sure your husband has some of that cream or something similar. Also, he was given gel, (i forgot the name) to rub on his scalp before treatments. Just to let you know he had about 17 mets in his brain, and when he had his MRI a couple of weeks ago, he was all clear!!!!! So I hope and pray that your husband has the success with WBR that my husband did. If he has the reactions my husband had, I know he and you can handle it. Please keep us up to date.. Grace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marym Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Hi, I have a second radio surgery scheduled for Thursday. The doctor did discuss the WBR as an option. First, he said if the radiation is spread over a period of time - like 5 weeks instead of 2, there tends to be no long term effects. Apparently, after about 2 years, WBR can cause dementia. He also said that these results excellent if the WBR is recd before age 60. As I understand it, there is also some short term memory loss - which happens to almost everyone. Anyway, I opted to go with the radio again this time - until they won't do it again. If there are more than 3 or 4, they won't use the radio surgery. Good luck. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don M Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Pam: I would avoid WBR. The side effects may take a year or longer to show up. It is more of an issue these days because people have been surviving cancer for longer periods of time thus giving the side effects of WBR time to show up. Some don't show serious side efects at all but others eventually do. Go to: http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/forum/default.aspx?c=4 Ask the radiation oncologists there about your husband's situation. I think he may be a candidate for cyberknife surgery. The doctors who amnswer questions there are top notch and all work at major cancer centers. they respond within 24 hours and sometimes sooner. Don M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.