Need Advice...any input would be appreciated.

[Hopefull151]

My Mom got her results back from her first round of Chemo and Radiation. It looks like the majority of the cancer is gone (which we are very happy about) except for one area. The area that is still lighting up in the PET scan is a small area of nodular metabolic uptake in the right peritracheal region. There seems to be no protocol as what the next step should be. Her doctor has mentioned a few options at this point. The two options that she is suggesting is either surgery to go in and try to remove what is left or (SRS) stereo tactic radio surgery. I was hoping that some of you may have more information or recommendations on what to do next. We have an appointment next Thursday with her doctor so I would even be open to suggestions on what type of questions I should be asking when we go in so that we can make the most educated decision. Also, has anyone had SRS and has it been successful? I am sorry for all the questions I am just trying to gather as much information as possible.

Thank you for always being there!!

[SandraL]

Her results sound great. I would ask Dr. West at cancergrace.org...I just figured out that site and how to post. Good luck with that...I posted one day and he responded the next so it is a good place to go for treatment advice. Have a great weekend

Sandra

[Donna G]

Her options sound great to me. I would perfer the surgery if otherwise she is in good health and can cope. The other procedure I have heard great results from. Let us know what they or she decides.

I started with her treatment also, went to surgery and had more chemo after ( was the plan from the start) and I am celebrating over 10 years of survival and am also still NED ( no evidence of disease)

Donna G

[Hopefull151]

Thank you for your responses. I posted on cancergrace.org.....hopefully Dr. West will have some more information for me. Thanks again.....

[Don M]

Cyberknife surgery is a form of SRS that allows for tumor movement when breathing during treatment. it is very accurate. Here us a website you can check out.

http://www.cyberknifesupport.org/forum/

The advantages to using cyberknife is that the lung function can be conserved, there is no surgery risk, and if it is a small nodule, 3 treatments should do it.

A major disadvantage is that you would have to wait for months to see if it worked. But, the success rate is fairly high.

Having said all this, if I qualified for surgery, I would have it cut out and learn to live with the decreased lung function and accept the risk and hassle of surgery. There are no guarantees, but at least after surgery, you will know that the current cancer is gone.

Don M