Is it possible to have recurrance and still feel great?

[Hope]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in awhile, but have lurked when I could. My mom was dx with sclc limited stage 0l/02. Did chemo until May 02, was in complete response until June 03 when a follow-up ct showed what was thought to be recurrance in the sturnum (sp) area. She immediately went back to the same chemo regimen, but got very ill from the first round and had to be hospitalized for 5 days. The doctor wanted to do more chemo, but instead waited to see the results of a petscan in July. The petscan showed lesions in the same area. The radiologist was pretty evasive, saying yes it was a recurrance, but he couldn't tell if it had grown since June because there was nothing to compare it to (ct and pet aren't comparable). The onc said that since mom is not having any symptoms whatsoever to just wait and have another ct next week (Sept l8). It seems that those who have had recurrances on this board immediately begin retreatment, I wonder if since my mom had such a terrible response to the chemo this time around he didn't want to risk that, and is he giving up? Is it true you can have recurrance with no symptoms, since the onc said that if it WAS recurrance she would not be symptom free (with the initial dx she had coughing, skin discoloration, fainted, etc.) We will know more after the ct is read, but I just wondered what your thoughts are on this.

Hope

[Cindy RN]

When they diagnosed me the first time I was symptom free. When I had my reoccurance I was still free of symptoms. Ask the Dr about the scans again and what it shows. Good Luck.