Hi, my dad had 3 months of chemotherapy then successful surgery 2 years ago for t1n2m0 nsclc. He recently found a lump in his neck that was confirmed to be a recurrence. After a pet scan ct and brain we have been told the recurrence is in one lymphnode measuring 15mm. The plan is chemotherapy that dad starts tomorrow then maybe radiotherapy along the way.
Very sad time & watching mum and dad go through this is very difficult.
i’m so sorry, sending positive hugs. x
Yes, im sure it is; good luck to your dad with the chemo; sorry its such a sad time for you all; i know how you feel xx
Dear Millisa
Sorry to hear about your Dad and how difficult this must be for you all. Hopefully the chemotherapy will go well for him.
If you wish to discuss anything or ask what support is available you can call us on our free nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200
Kind regards
The Roy Castle Support Team
Just dropped dad off at the hospital with my mum.
The oncologist has mentioned throwing radiotherapy in with the chemo too after a few cycles x
It sounds like they are treating him as much as possible, which I am sure you are all perhaps weary of, since you have already been through it, but hopefully there will be benefit to be had in the process.
All the best
The Roy Castle Support Team
Thank you x
Hello Mellisa.
I know it is a difficult time for you and your family. I think that most of us, as family and friends worry and take on board the feelings and outcome of cancer. It’s a normal reaction to the word we all dread which is Cancer. However as someone who has had close family and friends with cancer including lungs. And myself a never smoker diagnosed post operatively with lung Cancer in May this year. No chemo or radiotherapy as it was rare and slow growing and large. On 5 year serial X Ray regime. Now I am fine it’s gone and I feel better for it. I rarely speak of it as some people don’t know what to say or do. Speaking to your Parents, asking questions and talk about your feelings and theirs and being open and honest is good. Concentrate on the now and the let the future unfold in its own time.
All the best to you and Your Family this Christmas.
Thank you for your lovely reply!
I'm just sad dad is going through this again after things where looking so good at nearly 2 years NED.
The oncologist only talks of keeping the cancer from spreading and shrinking it. I am finding it hard to get my head round.
Dad started chemotherapy today and seems ok right now just tired. I know in a day or two he will be bad.
Sending Christmas wishes to you and your family too x
Millissa, firstly sorry that your dad finds himself in this place and you and your mum not knowing how to support him and yourselves in this situation. Like Daisy47, I also am a never smoker, had surgery to remove 7cm tumour 7 years ago and am careful who I share this information with. Many people whose lives have not been touched by lung cancer in recent years have no idea about the many advances made in understanding the various types of lung cancer and also changes in every mode of treatment - surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, combined therapies and immunotherapy. At the time of my treatment, less than 5% of cancer research funding was spent on lung cancer due to ignorance by scientists/general public about the condition and the stigma that this largely considered a 'smokers' disease'. This is now known not to be true - that while smoking increases the tumour burden and therefore a greater number of 'targets' to treat, many non smokers also develop it so there is a need for more and earlier treatment. More is now known about recurrence and need for different treatment than the first occurrence as sometimes treatment changes the behaviour and type of tumour that returns so requires different therapies and new agents are being tested all the time in global clinical trials.
I'm privileged to now be a patient advocate, sit on national LC committees and attend international conferences and have just returned from a 3 day session at the Lung Cancer centre of excellence in Manchester by CRUK with international speakers working with large teams of researchers, clinicians and scientists to develop more effective treatments to help more patients. That fills me with hope. During this work in the last couple of years, I've met and corresponded with more survivors who are doing quite well on some treatments and medics in some cases believing this can be managed as a 'chronic' condition even in late stage cancer. Therefore, I understand your situation fully as my dad developed bowel cancer when he was in his late 50's and we didn't think he'd reach 60 - especially when it returned 6 months after having a resection so he then had a colostomy. That was 28 years ago. Last year, he had more major surgery to remove yet more tumour from his remaining colon and more polyps removed recently. He's now 88 and my mum's carer. He appears frail but just keeps on going! I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes our parents are stronger than we believe, and in intervening years, better understanding and better treatments come to light. Sounds as if your dad's team are treating him well so maybe you and your mum may need some support in dealing with the situation (so not to burden him further) so you can always call Macmillan or RCLCF helpline or talk to a cancer nurse specialist if he has one. I found a book helpful by Deborah Hutton called 'what can I do to help'? and another 'Cancer is a word not a sentence' by Dr Rob Buckman - both deal with the mental anxiety for the person concerned and those around them. Feel free to ask for support on this forum…. take care and good luck. x
Thank you so much for your reply! Dad started chemotherapy yesterday, seems ok (ish)!
I just don't understand why the outlook is so bad when he only has the one 15mm lymphnode in his neck.
Hoping the chemotherapy does its job 💙 Xx
Hi millisa can i ask when they found the growth did the know it was a recurrence without a biopsy xxx
Hi Kevin, just by feeling the lump followed by scans confirmed it was a recurrence. No biopsy although dads just completed 3 rounds of chemo an the lump has not changed so I'm insisting on a biopsy at our appointment tomorrow xx
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