John75 Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Hello, My mother just finished three weeks of radiation for her brain mets and is scheduled to start chemo in a couple of weeks for her lungs. Yesterday we found out that she has pneumonia. The doctors said that they caught it early and that with medication she should be fine. Is this common for lung cancer? Does anyone know if there's anything we should be watching for with this? Can she even start the chemo if she has pneumonia? I have so many questions and, as usual, the doctors provide little answers. Also, the radiation oncologist was the one who suggested my mother have a chest x-ray because of her breathing. This was on the last day of radiation. She's not scheduled to see her regular doctor until the 26th of April. By then it will be over a month since she's seen her regular doctor. Does this seem like a long time to anybody? I just can't get it out of my head that if the radiation oncologist didn't catch this on the last day of radiation then we would have waited until the 26th to take my mother to the doctor and the pneumonia would have been much more severe. How often should people be going to the doctor for regular appointments with lung cancer? I apologize if I'm rambling but I really want to thank everyone on this board. I don't post a lot but really appreciate the feedback and reading others posts. It's good to know that there's somewhere to turn when things seem so confusing and scary right now. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhutch1366 Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Call her regular doctor and tell him she's got pneumonia, and ask if she should be seen now. I would suspect he'd want to see her in a week or so to make sure the medications were working. Always make sure your doctors are either talking to each other or you inform them of what's going on, don't wait for scheduled appointments when something unexpected shows up. Good luck, feel better. XOXOX MaryAnn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natalie Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Hi John, I think it's pretty common to get pneumonia and it sounds like antibiotics are going to take care of it. I would ask the oncologist about chemo b/c with added chemo her cell count can become low and less resistant to colds, etc. When I was in your position, I wrote down all my questions and would leave a message for the oncologist to call me and then have them ready when the dr. called back. My mom rarely saw her regular doctor because we thought we were in better hands with a cancer specialist, but I would encourage you to use all your resources you can. Take Care. Keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen335 Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 HI John, I had pneumonia in Sept of last year. I had had my 3rd chemo, Taxol/Carbo and boom it hit. My white and red cell count went low. I was getting Procrit weekly and Nuelasta weekly, but they still went down. I also had to have two blood transfusions due to becoming anemic (sp?). Felt so much betterr afterwards, it really boosted my strength. My Onc was the one who gave me all of the antibiotics to get rid of the pneumonia. But it was blessed by my primary care doctor.... Did your mom have more than one brain met and did she have WBR? Was she sick during her radiation treatments or did she just get the pneumonia? Praying for her speedy recovery on the pneumonia, so she can build up strength and get going on the chemo... Blessings, Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Wood Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 My wife had bilateral pneumonia last August, 10 months from dx and 3 months from the end of chemo/radiation. She was in the hospital 2 weeks and in the rehab hospital for almost 2 more weeks. But she's a tropoer, and survived the ordeal. It is common for lung cancer patients to get a bout of pneumonia -- guess the lungs are weak from the cancer. Hang in there. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelliemacs Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 my mom got pneumonia as well during her chemo treatments. Her lung ended up collapsed though. But her case was allot different probably. Just watch her and take note of any changes and if you feel like you need to contact a dr. or go to the er. dont hesitate. i know there is some saying about caution but I can't think of it right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John75 Posted April 16, 2004 Author Share Posted April 16, 2004 Karen, My mother had only one met to the brain. She did not have WBR, just to the spot where the tumor was removed. She was not really sick during the radiation treatment. Just tired, but she's been very tired anyway. My mother's primary care physician is also specializes in oncology so she only sees the one doctor (except for the radiation oncologist during the radiation treatment). It just seems odd to me that her doctor would not want to see her for over a month. I would assume that she would want my mother to check in more frequently. Thanks everyone for the response. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen335 Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Hi John, The reason I ask is because I just had surgery to remove one brain met too. I am scheduled for radiation to just the are where they removed the tumor. It was less than an inch. What type of radiation did she have, Stereotactic, I think that is what they call it. I would think that with your mom having pneumonia, the doctor would want to see her in say a week, not a month. I would call and see if she can get in sooner that a month, that is way too long. Especially if they want to start chemo. Her immune systen is down right now and chemo brings it down even further. This way they know if the antibiotic is working and if it isn't, they would be able to change her it. Watch for high fever, if it goes over 100.5, go to emergency, they don't want it to go any higher. This is a must, don't wait just go. Hope this helps. You and your mom are both in my prayers... God Bless, Karen in So. California Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John75 Posted April 20, 2004 Author Share Posted April 20, 2004 Karen, Sorry I was away from e-mail for the weekend. I'm not not sure exactly what type of radiation my mother had. Actually I am embarassed because I did not know there were different types. She reacted very well to it though. As for my mother's doctor visits, the doctor had originally scheduled them a month apart. Since her radiation oncologist found the pneumonia she will only go a little less than two weeks until she sees the doctor. I guess that should be alright. I was just nervous that this could delay chemo. She was diagnosed in February and it makes me nervous that so much time has passed with any chemo to treat the lung cancer. Good luck with your radiation treatments. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanCarl Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 John, Hoping to calm your fears a little. Non-small cell lung cancer is normally a slow growing cancer. So taking a bit of time between doctor visits probably isn't going to hurt. HOWEVER ... ANY change in a patients condition needs, in my opinion, to be addressed right away. To tell the truth, I'd give your primary doc a call today if you haven't already. If nothing else just to update him on your Mom's condition and to see if he wants to do anything more about the pneumonia. Just my opinion. Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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