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WBR for brain mets??


MIreland

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My dad was diagnosed with limited stage SCLC in Oct 2009. He has undergone several rounds of chemo and radiation to the chest. The cancer went into remission in May of 2010 only to come back a few short months later. He has continued with chemo. Today he just got His brain scan results back and we got horrible news. It has spread to the brain. He refuses to get WBR as he said he is choosing quality of life over quantity. The doc told him there is a high risk of memory loss with WBR and being tired all of the time. I want him to still fight, but I support his decision. Does anyone have any survivor stories or stories to share about undergoing WBR? I am hoping to be able to share these with him so he may reconsider.

Trying my best to have faith and continue to believe in miracles...

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I can't speak to the WBR - but there are a few members here that definitely can. I'm a little surprised that they didn't do the WBR following initial chemo I thought that was the norm for SCLC. I might suggest to you that you ask your question at cancergrace.org - there may be some helpful advice there as well as the doctors that respond to questions as best they can with the information you provide. I know there are WBR success stories here - just give the folks time to respond.

All the best,

Annette

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Hi!

I have two experiences with WBR. Both were good.

My Mom had SCLC with mets to the brain. She elected to have the WBR because the tumors were causing her to have seizures. She wanted quality of life, so she turned down chemo, and other treatments, but did the WBR to stop the seizures. It worked! It didn't save her life, but it gave her 9 more months of quality of life. She was a little tired from it but not bad, and did not have memory loss.

My friend also had the same dx. She was scared to death to have WBR. She was having symptoms that looked like she had a stroke, with paralysis in the left side of her face, and her tongue was numb, so she couldn't talk well. I shared my experience with her about my Mom, and she decided to have it done too. The paralysis is gone, she can talk normally, and is suprised at how well she feels. She too, is more tired than before, but other than that she is feeling good. She also did not experience memory loss.

My Mom was 62. My friend is 44.

So, maybe it depends on the age of the person? Neither of them were told of memory loss. I'm wondering how old your Dad is.

Judy in MI

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Thank you so much for your responses. Annette & laban- they did recommend PCI as a preventative measure after the cancer first went into remission, however my dad decided not to have it done. He had no issues really with the chemo, expect for feeling tired, but he hated the radiation he had received to the chest so he refused.

Joppette- great to hear that both of your experiences were good ones. My dad is 61. He'll be 62 in October of this year, so right around your mother's age.

When he was first diagnosed he said he would not do the chemo because of horror stories he had heard, so I really do believe that with enough stories of people who have been through WBR and research suggesting it is the best option he may change his mind. It seems from what I have been reading that the effects of the actual tumor spreading and growing are far worse than the WBR.

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