Concerned

[jack68]

My friend has just been told she has lung cancer.I want to be able to understand so I can help,she thought it was arthritis in her fingers but after tests she has been told she has a 7cm she has another appointment on Tuesday she thinks it will be to discuss treatment this will only be her second time at hospital so hoping the news will be good

[JanetteR57]

Hello Jack, so good of you to help your friend. It can be quite an overwhelming time and it can be easy to 'overload and overdose' on the information that is out there - much of it unhelpful and unproven.

There is a lot of information on the Roy Castle lung cancer foundation website under 'how we help', 'information' then booklets about the condition, living with lung cancer and the different type of treatments (that vary according the characteristics of the tumour) so once she/you have more information, that may prove useful. Otherwise you'll be filling your heads/minds with all sorts of stuff that may not be relevant. The best two now are probably the ones I've mentioned. They have sections with questions to ask the medical team/consultant as it can be easy to think of things once she's left the hospital. Ask if she will have access to a cancer nurse specialist as they are often available to answer questions outside of appointment times. good luck. There are many of us around with experience of the condition (almost 8 years since my surgery to remove half my lung and diagnosis) and treatments have developed no end in recent years. I'd suggest staying away from the internet in general - use trusted sites if looking at statistics such as Roy Castle or CRUK but keep in mind that statistics are many years out of date, averages (i.e. including patients with all manner of other conditions/different ages etc) and that none of us need be a statistic! There are a wide range of clinical trials around as well in the UK as the world cancer community has all manner of treatment combinations/research studies underway to improve the situation for patients. good luck to you both.

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hi jack68,

Thank you for your post regarding your friends diagnosis. As Janet R57 states we have several booklets regarding lung cancer which may help to gain a better understanding of lung cancer and suggest which questions to ask when your friend next attends the oncology clinic.

roycastle.org/how-we-help/l...

file://rc-vm-dc01.roycastle.local/SHARED/DEPARTMENTS/LCISS/INFORMATION%20SERVICES/Literature%20Development/Booklets/Living%20well%20with%20lung%20cancer/Design%20drafts/LivingWithLungCancer_2018Booklet%205th.pdf

If your friend would like to speak to one of the Helpline nurses in confidence,she can call Freephone 0800 358 7200 Monday-Thursday 9.00-5.00pm Friday 9.00am-4.00pm.

Kind regards,

All the team at the Roy Castle Helpline

[jckjanetrosalin]

Sorry to hear this. She has a diagnose's very quick if this is her second hospital appointment. Ive gone sinse feb back anf forward to hospital tests. In aug had half lung removed but results in sept confirmed no cancer just inflammation.