Unbearable wait.

[F3spyder]

Hi everyone I'm new here. My sister in law was diagnosed with lung cancer 7 weeks ago. Pleural fluid results came back inconclusive so she had biopsy 10 days ago. Still no results . Is it normal to wait this long? Thanks x

[Daisy_Chain_12345]

Hi

I’m sorry that you are going through this. It’s a horrible time. My mum had her biopsy on a Thursday and we called and got the results the following Wednesday afternoon.

[F3spyder in reply to Daisy_Chain_12345]

Hope your Mum doing ok. Thanks for your reply .

[Daisy_Chain_12345 in reply to F3spyder]

Thank you. Her results weren’t what we were hoping for. We had hoped the cancer hadn’t spread and that they could operate but they can’t we are meeting her oncologist this week to talk about treatment.

I would call the hospital for an update if you still haven’t heard. Good luck x

[Denzie in reply to Daisy_Chain_12345]

No it’s not unusual. Even here in the US where they claim private is better than socialized we often can wait a couple months for the final diagnosis. I can tell you this much, if it was as small cell lung my cancer they would have started immediately. At the biopsy they do a ‘gross pathology’ that confirms cancer and small cell is so distinct they no immediately what it is.

The less aggressive non small cell can take a few weeks. First to determine the type of nsclc then if it’s adenocarcinoma you hey wait on the genomics to see if she needs a pill or chemo.

[F3spyder in reply to Denzie]

Thank you x

[JanetteR57]

Hello - and welcome to the group nobody would choose to join... yes, it's usual. In lung cancer the treatments can be very different dependent on the pathology results as the different targeted agents available hone in on certain specific aspects that can only be determined from the biopsy. Even when people say they're on chemo - the agents used and the combination of that with other treatments (whether the dosage or the order in which treatments are given) can differ widely. Also immunotherapy is now offered to those eligible biologically much earlier than a few years ago. If surgery is possible, there will also be discussions with the multi disciplinary team of whether this would be done first or whether chemo or radiotherapy would be given beforehand. Although until we enter this world, we assume all patients would be treated the same, in the last few years many breakthroughs have been made in increasing the knowledge of what drives lung cancers and with that, new treatment agents and new targets within the cell tumour are being developed all the time. One quality I've had to learn in the 8+ years since my diagnosis is patience - every step of the way is likely to involve waiting for results whether of scans, blood tests, lung function tests, bronchoscopy or pathology. Try and find a way to distract yourselves if you can. good luck.

[F3spyder in reply to JanetteR57]

Thank you x

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hi ,

Cancer research UK state you should get biopsy results between 1-2 weeks. Your sister in law should contact her doctor if she does not hear after this time. As you can see the forum is a good place for getting advice from others who have responded to your post.

All the best from the Roy Castle Helpline team.

[F3spyder in reply to RoyCastleHelpline]

Thanks

[Babydolltina]

In Birmingham my wife had 3 biopsies after being told it was lung cancer at the beginning of Feb19. She started chemo April 22nd Easter Monday, but hers was Advanced Small Cell.They are giving her Carboplatin and Etopiside. Stop worrying it WILL come together.

[F3spyder in reply to Babydolltina]

Thank you . xx

[BellaBe]

I think most people would agree that waiting is the worst part, at least when you know results you can make a plan and take back some degree of control. If your sister in law feels she’s waiting too long then a phone call is all it takes, In my experience you feel better just asking and it never does any harm to wave your arms around and be noticed. Hope she gets good news x

[F3spyder in reply to BellaBe]

Thank you