John75 Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 nsclc with mets to brain on 2/10/04. She has already had the tumor removed from her brain and is in the middle of radiation now. She will also have to begin chemo to work on the lung cancer. From reading posts it seems that many people have chemo and radiation at the same time. I'm worried because my mother's doctor is not planning to meet with her again to discuss chemo until 4/26/04. That's over two months since the cancer was diagnosed! Does anyone know if this is common? It seems that we are waiting a long time and I'm worried that the cancer is spreading as we speak because we're not doing anything about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phyllis Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Hi, I would get a second opinion. I went for two months before starting chemo and actually ended up being about 4 months since the Iressa did not work. However, my tumors were less than a cm at the time and slow growing. Your mother may not be physically able to do both radiation and chemo at the same time. Sometimes you do the radiation first and then the chemo. Just a whole lot of factors involved. This last 4 months of chemo did not work for me and I knew at that time the tumors were growing and I was pretty concerned until I started this new chemo. Second and even third opinions are always good cause you would be surprised how different the answers can be from oncologists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ry Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 We were told that there was a better response if chemo and radiation were done together. Sounds like a long time to wait to me. Rochelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna G Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 It would seem to me from your words that she is getting treatment. You said they did brain surgery and now are doing radiation to the brain. Chemo does not pass from the blood to the brain so that would not be part of the brain treatment. I am sure when she has had time to recover from the brain treatment is when they plan to start the chemo that will be to treat the lung and lymph node. When people say they are getting chemo and radiation together it is to the chest . Hope all goes well. Donna G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Lamb Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Hi,I was told that the chemo actually helps the radiation work better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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