canadagirl Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 My Mom was dx in Dec 2010 with SCLC. She has has 4 rounds of Chemo and 25 days of radiation. After her first scan, the doctor told here that the spots on her lungs are almost gone. She is responding really well to the treatment, She still has good days and bad, and she has even managed to eat and gain weight. The whole family in unsure about her having the PCI. I know its best to listen to professionals when it comes to advise about treatment, we just don't know if radiation to the brain is safe. She would like her quality of life to be good. I have heard stories about permanent hair loss, memory loss and just an all around bad side effects from PCI. Basically my questions is to those who have has SCLC who have and have not had the PCI done. She doesn't was to fix whats not broken, so to speak. Any information about side effects and success stories would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recce101 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Hi, welcome to LCSC. As you may know, PCI is generally recommended for anyone with SCLC, and this article from an oncologist at GRACE (Global Resource for Advancing Cancer Education) explains why: http://cancergrace.org/lung/2010/08/07/ ... ng-cancer/ While you're at GRACE, you can browse the numerous articles and comments and forum threads about SCLC and PCI, and ask your own questions which are typically answered by a lung cancer specialist in less than 24 hours. Best wishes and Aloha, Ned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadagirl Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Thanks for your replies. As it is, she does not have brain met and they only want to do it as a precaution. We are all really concerned about the permanent side effects. Does any one know of any homeopathy/natural ways to prevent her SCLC from spreading to the brain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ts Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Nope. Please do read the link on GRACE - it is very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminkw Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Can't help with personal experience. I do know a woman in my cancer group who had it as a precautionary treatment and seems very glad she did. Judy in KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstdzy Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Sorry I can't be of more help but I never received PCI, even though I had SCLC. My ONC forgot to even discuss PCI with me until a year after my treatment. At that point I talked with an ONC RAD about the pros and cons and we decided not to do PCI at that time. As with everything "cancer" I have heard good/bad stories about PCI, it totally depends on the person. Good Luck! Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolasDaughter Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Hello and welcome! As has been said already, it's definitely an individual decision and could mean different things for different people. As I'm sure you already know, SCLC can be an aggressive, sneaky bugger and my mom decided to have it done. We wanted to take full advantage of everything in our 'arsenal' so to speak. She did end up having one pesky met that was successfully treated with gamma knife, but we'll never know how many more there may have been without the PCI. We never saw any side affects attributed to the PCI. From my personal experience, I would recommend it. Mom called it a 'rubber for her brain'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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