Wattle21 Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 My mother-in-law was hospitalized approx 3 wks ago for a stroke. While in the hospital, they found a "spot" on her lung they thought might be cancer. A biopsy was done, it came back small cell lung cancer. We seen the oncologist, who ran all kinds of tests (PET scan, CT, MRI). Everything came back negative, so her cancer was the limited stage of small cell cancer. She starts chemotherapy next week, with radiation to follow in a few weeks. I hope somebody has some survival stories for me. I am a nurse, but from everything I have read, it is telling me her average survival time is less than 2 years. I'm hoping for the best. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muriel Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Welcome, Wattle21. For many people with SCLC, the outlook isn't nearly as grim as you described! Take a look at the postings on the "My Story" and "SCLC" message boards and I think you'll find some that are very optimistic. Please let us know how your mother-in-laws treatments are and how she is feeling. Best wishes to both of you. Muriel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.S. I Love You Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 My wife , Bev, was diagnosed with limited SCLC in September 2004. She went through all the treatment protocols and is currently disease-free. You can find her story in the "My Story" forum. There definitely is hope! Best wishes, Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsC1210 Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Hello and welcome to the board I am sorry about your mother in law's diagnosis but glad you have joined us. I cannot offer much as far as information or advice but would like to say, please do NOT listen to the statistics and prognosis you will find and hear. Those stats are numbers, averages and your mother in law is a unique person. Everyone responds to treatment differently as you will see as you read more of the stories and history on this site. There are so many postive stories and so much hope to be found here among this group. Please let us know how we can help you and we will be here for you. Warmly Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ztweb Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 I am so sorry that you needed to find us...but I am glad you did. We are a survival story... Stay strong and read stuff from us here...it is valuable! Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lc46 Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 My Mom is going into her 20th month since being DX. You can read her profile below. There are many more survivors on this site and many more that we have met @ the hospital where my Mom gets treatment. PM me if you need to. Dar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patti B Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Welcome!!! Glad you found us!! Please, please do not listen to statistics!!! Instead, read profiles here of some of the amazing people who have defied all the odds!!! Hugs - Patti B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraL Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Hi there. Keep on hoping for the best. Hope your mom's treatments go well...focus on getting her through that. Lots of good information and supportive folks here. Take care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandyswa Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Please dont read stats.... everyone is different. We were told 6 months ands we are past that so take it one day at a time and enjoy the days. These folks here are awesome and one your worse days someone else will be there to pick you up. This the way I surivied it all!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wattle21 Posted April 12, 2008 Author Share Posted April 12, 2008 Thanks to everyone who replied, you made my hopes high for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recce101 Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Welcome to the group! The fact that your MIL is clear of detectable mets outside of the chest and therefore "limited stage" or "limited disease" SCLC is a big deal. That means it's potentially curable according to the experts. Since you have a medical background, you might like to read a current article on LD-SCLC by Dr. West at onctalk.com. There's a wealth of information on the site, primarily on lung cancer, constantly updated by a Seattle oncologist who is an internationally-recognized expert on lung cancer and who gives high priority to promptly answering questions from people like you and me. A lot of us have "dual citizenship" so to speak, and have the same usernames there as here. I suggest you start with this article, Current Standards of Care for Limited Disease SCLC: http://onctalk.com/2006/12/01/soc-for-ld-sclc/ Best wishes and Aloha, Ned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryanne Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Welcome here, sorry you had to find us but glad you did so we can help you through this. Like you have read in the posts here, we DO NOT listen to stasticts. There are so many on here who have beaten the odds and are doing fine years later. Some disease free, so you see there is always hope. Keep a positive attitude as that is half the battle. We are here for you for any questions you may have or if you just need support. Hange strong, and please know that LC is not a death sentence. Maryanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wattle21 Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 well, now it's October and my mother-in-law is still fighting SCLC, just last week they found a spot on her brain, 1.2cm tumor on her brain. They are planning to do cyberknife treatment on her. now i know her prognosis probably isn't that great. i have hope for her though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsC1210 Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Hi Wattle and thanks for the update. Cyberknife is an amazing tool and there are many on this site who can give you a lot more information about it. How is your Mother in law doing other than the brain met? Please keep us posted and know we are here for you! Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraL Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Thanks for the update Wattle. There are many here who have had successful cyberknife treatments and I hope your mom does as well. There is always hope. Sandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don M Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Welcome Wattle. Since there is no spread to any other area of your mom's body, I think she may still have a shot at long term survival. They may want to do Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation (PCI) on her brain when she is done with cyberknife (CK). It is a low dose treatment that is used to kill off any mets that cannot be seen. One can still do ck after PCI if another met shows up. Don M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolasDaughter Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Hi Wattle, My mom also has SCLC and has a brain met which was first treated with radiation and then gamma knife (same as cyber knife). The procedure itself was simple for brain surgery (you can do a search here and probably find more) - we actually went to lunch afterwards! We go tomorrow for her next set of scans, but you can see our journey below. There is always hope and the one thing that I've learned is to take this journey one day at a time. And today... it's a good day! Wishing the same for you there. Love, Nicole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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