Hi George,

I spoke to you on your other thread last night.

Not every cancer case is straightforward. There will be MDT (multi-disciplinary team) meetings taking place behind the scenes to discuss your mom's case. Here they will decide what treatment, if any, is appropriate for her. She appears to have some metastases, when it is in so many organs. It sounds as if your mom's care team are being very thorough, which is good. They really need to know her exact diagnosis before they can reach her optimum treatment regime. You do not say what age your mom is, or what her general health is like. This can delay some tests.

Has your mom had her biopsy and MRI yet?

The sad thing is that they cannot tell you what the plan is until they have a full diagnosis. Waiting is always stressful, but I can understand that you are anxious to tell your sister. Have you discussed this with your mom's consultant? He might feel that you are better contacting her sooner rather than later.

I sincerely hope that her tests will be carried out soon.

Kind regards,
Jolamine

Hi Jolamine,

  thank you so much for your reply. Mom is 70 and in very good health, she walks daily, has many hobbies and keeps busy normally. She has high blood pressure and high cholesterol but that’s it. Last night the doctor said before she goes home (hopefully Monday) they need to do a scan of her heart (I don’t know what for), and they will repeat her blood pressure readings being taken both standing and lying down (they’ve done this a few times but again I don’t know what for). They will arrange an outpatient appointment for a bronchoscopy which I think is for the biopsy, and maybe MRI after. Yesterday she felt and looked very well and said if she was at home she would’ve gone out and about like she normally would. Looking on the Cancer Research lung cancer pages it seems she could be classed as Stage 4. This frightens me greatly. I’m 37 and my sister is 48. She still has no idea. I think the doctors are doing their best and I appreciate their efforts, we just want to know what will happen next. I really appreciate your advice and replies on here, thank you x

Hi George,

Your mom will need a general anaesthetic if she is going to have surgery. I expect that her doctors are checking that her heart can stand this. I have high blood pressure too and my doctors and nurses like to take my blood pressure, in both positons - both lying down and standing. This gives a more accurate reading.

Grade 4 is not good news, but there are a number of people here who are beating the odds despite this. Complex cases can occur for many different reasons. The most likely is the situation of the tumour can be too close to major organs  for the surgeon to be able to remove all the cancer. Having said this, I am not a doctor and this is only surmisal.

I lost my own mum to secondary breast cancer 21 years ago. She eventualy had metastases in her liver, lungs, brain and bone. It was hard going and we really had to be strong for her. Like your mom, mine was generally healthy and 74. I have had 2 bouts of breast cancer myself in the past 9 years. Treatments have come on leaps and bounds since then and, there is absolutely no comparison between the treatments that we have both had. When mum had it, it was considered a death sentence, but now many people live with cancer.

It is always worth drawing up a list of questions for your mom's consultant prior to attending any appointment. Don't be afraid to ask about anything that is worrying you. No question is too insignificant.  If the consultant tels you something that you do not understand, make sure that you get him to explain everything in plain English - sometimes they get bogged down in medical jargon, which means nothing to the patient or their family.

I hope that your mom will get her tests soon. Have you asked what is complex about her case?

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thank you for your advice Jolamine. I am sorry about the loss of your mom and indeed your own battles with cancer, you really have had a hard time with this horrible disease. I hope you are doing well now . We are still waiting for tests to be done and mom is still in hospital although now she seems to be in pain frequently and suffers attacks of severe dizziness and shaking which they don’t know what the cause of. They seem obsessed with looking at her heart, she originally came into hospital last week because of chest pain but I don’t have a clue what’s going on to be honest. It feels like time has stood still. Thank you again for your support and I’ll update as soon as something (anything!) happens 

best wishes xx

Hi George,

It doesn't sound as if your mom will be getting out of hospital today - what a pity. I hope that she is not too disappointed.

Have you asked the doctors what the problem is with her heart? Sometimes they don't tell you, unless you ask a direct question. I find it handy for the family to get together to draw up a list of questions which you can ask next time you see her consultant. Some of you will have different questions than others, so it's good to put your heads together.

I'll look forward to your update and, hope for all of your sakes that things start moving again soon.

Kind regards,

Jolamine

Hello Jolamine,

    Thank you so much for your continued support. the doctors came this morning and said they were doing a scan of mom's heart as they were concerned the tumours in her lymph node were pressing on it. She did indeed have the scan and the man doing the scan said her heart looked OK. Doctors want her to stay in now until she has the bronchoscopy so I'm really hoping she can go home once it's out the way, at least for a short while until they decide what to do. Dad is doing his best at home on his own but I worry about him. It's a good idea to write some questions down, I'll suggest it to mom and dad tomorrow. I hope you are doing well yourself, many thanks and best wishes,

X

Hi George,

I'm glad to hear that something happened for your mum today. Having nodes pressing on the heart could indeed make it difficult to remove all of the tumour, but it sounds as if her heart scan went well. Do you know if the radiographer doing the scan was referring to her heart in general when he said that the heart looked ok, or was he referring to the pressure on the heart by the lymph nodes? - Two different things and 2 different outcomes.

If the doctors are keeping her in until she has her Bronchoscopy, it shouldn't be that long before she has it. It would be good if she could get home even if only for a few days before she starts treatment. I expect that your dad would be glad to see her back home again too. I'm glad to hear that he is getting by on his own meanwhile.

It is well worth writing some questions down and I hope that this helps.

I am doing fine thanks. I visited my GP today with a mole on my face. She didn't like the look of it and, has referred me to medical illustration at the hospital tomorrow. This is a way of prioritizing the more sinister looking cases. The photos are sent to the dermatologist and, s/he then decides what cases need to be seen most urgently. Another nervous wait, but I'm getting used to them after 9 years.

Kind regards,

Jolamine

Hello Jolamine,

     I’m sending you good luck and wishes for you appointment, I really hope everything is ok. It does seem that once you’ve had a cancer diagnosis you can never fully relax in terms of symptoms returning or if anything out of the ordinary is going on. It’s a never ending battle but I hope this turns out to be nothing sinister for you, I think you’ve been through enough. Thank you again for your reply, am very much hoping mom can go home in the next few days, she has a husband and a rabbit who are missing her! It’s hard seeing her look vulnerable, she is only a little woman anyway and now she’s lost a stone in weight and look even smaller. I wish it was me who had it and not her. I think the radiographer said her heart looked ok but thinking about it now that doesn’t actually specify whether anything is pressing on it or not, hopefully the doctors will explain a d book this bloody bronchoscopy!

   Please let me know how you get on at your appointment , wishing you all’s the best x

Hi George,

Many thanks for your good wishes. My photo has been sent to the Dermatologist, ENT & Opthamology as the lesion is just under my eye and close to my nasal passage. It will now be viewed and prioritised, so I don't yet know how long it'll be before I'll seen by one of these specialists.

It is hard watching your mom looking so tiny and vulnerable in her hospital bed. The same happened with my mum. In the end, she was like a frightened rabbit caught in the headlights. Has she been told any more, or has any more been done for her today? You would expect the hospital to be anxious to free her bed if nothing else.

Jolamine

Hello Jolamine,

     Thanks again for your reply. I really hope everything is ok with you and you don’t have to wait too long before you hear something back. I hope it’s positive news for you, you’ve already been through so much.

    Mom is still hoping to be discharged to today if she was ok overnight. She is still having dizzy spells but they say it’s not due to her heart so I’m wondering if it’s just part and parcel of having lung cancer? She is on a low dose of morphine now which I’m worried about. I’ll be ringing her shortly to ask if anything has changed since  last night. She has a slot booked in for her bronchoscopy as an outpatient. It’s a week today that the year told us about her cancer and we still know little more.

  Wishing you all the best and good health, hope to hear good news from you soon x