Chemo or Not

sinecure
0 Recommendations

I had my left lobe removed on 9/11/08. The Dr said he got it all. No signs of spreading.I saw a Oncologist Fri and he wants me to start Chemo for 3 Mo's. Chemo will add on 7% to my 5 year life expectancy. I'm 74, 11 grandchildren all into teens and this sickness is doing a job on my wife. Is going thru 3 mo's of Chemo worth it especially knowing it how hard it will be on my wife. She really worries about me. I believe in Quality of Life versus Quantity of Life. Comments please

24 replies

Chum

I had the same decision. After surgery I was staged 1a and most all of the sources and doctors suggested it wasn't appropriate. I really tried to force this issue, because I wanted to add as many years as possible to my life. If I had been stage 1b, I would have gone ahead with the adjuvant chemotherapy. That's pretty much how it comes down for me: one letter made the difference - an "A" and no chemo - a "B" and chemo it is.

Of course if you have chemo, you can never be sure you should have had it - might not have gotten a recurrence. But I also buy home owners insurance and hope I never have a fire!

It is a tough decision, but realize that 7% is not 7% of five years (four months). It is the percentage of people who would NOT have had a recurrence and died after five years.

Courage

Chum

Gretchen

I chose not to. I was 72 when I had surgery. My cancer did come back a few months later. I would still have made the same decision, but I'll never know if chemo then would have made a difference. I can tell you that chemo has been nowhere near as bad as I expected. I've had three rounds and had just a few bad days. I think I'll be starting Tarceva -- after the test for EFGR comes back. Good luck and God bless both you and your caring wife.
Gretchen

dpharr

I was 1B last year and had an ULL in March 2007. My surgeon also said he got it all. I choose not to have chemo. Throughout the year I had routine x-rays & ct scans. All was well until my last scan in June. It showed my cancer was back and had spread. I will never know if I had had chemo if the cancer would have come back. If I had it to do over I would have chosen 3 months of chemo.

Blessings to you in your decision.

Dorothy

mitziger

Hi sinecure, I too was to have upper left lobe removed but they didn't due to nodules bilaterally. There was one nodule with adenocarcinoma w/bac. I too did not want chemo at age 75 but they insisted even though margins were clear of any cancer they say that sometimes cells can get loose. If the surgeon tells you he KNOWS he got it all fine but it is kind of a flip a coin thing as to whether you are doing right by accepting or denying further treatment. I feel I do not need this treatment, but I am not a doctor and feel like they are giving me very aggresive treatment when this is not even a staged cancer. The surgeon could only say with this rare type some people live for years and some don't do so good. Pet scan before treatment did not show any malignancy. Good Luck and talk to God about what you should do my friend.

peyz33

I was dx'd 2B - my surgeon also said "he got it all" - but HE told me to have adjunctive chemo - when I asked him why - he said "Because I am not GOD" - worked for me. NED since 6/08

kandyxxo

I had my surgery on August 18 2008.Two of my lobes were removed in my right lung.My doc told me the cancer is gone as far as we can see but we want to do chemo as a precautionary measure because there could be some tiny cancer cells still inside me and if there is the chemo will kill it.Im doing the chemo and it does suck dont get me wrong but I thought it was going to be alot worse.Im sick for like 5 days total per month.Im glad about my decision im bald but im alive ,I had to do it for my kids.I know you are older but I think its well worth it .Good luck!!!!-Kandy

LTLCS

The famous last words are "I GOT IT ALL!" I can't TELL you how many times I heard that over the years from people who were diagnosed early stage and just 5 or 6 or 8 months later found out there cancer was back.

Dave Grant the man that started this group was one of them. He was dx.d stage (I) and within one year he was a stage IV. His picture is at the top of this board.

I have members in my In Person LC Support Group as well that didn't do chemo because they were told by the surgeon "HE/SHE GOT IT ALL, and NOW these same people are dealing with a re-occurrence of cancer and are doing the chemo and fighting the fight.

If this were ME I would do the chemo no doubt in my mind. They may choose to do a low dose chemo on you, but I would take that chance. I know all my members dealing with re-occurrences are wishing they had done chemo the first time around. Also, you might ask yourself is there a guarantee chemo will work? No, but at least you know by doing this YOU did ALL you could to bet this monster. I see so many people kicking themselves for NOT doing chemo and that just breaks my heart. They have come a LONNG ways in chemo's and anti-nausea meds today. You would be very surprised to know most people don't have the horrible nightmare stores of chemo kicking there rears. I went through mine pretty darn easy. And I know many others who did too. BUT again, there's no guarantee that you won't get sick or some ill side effects. If your Onc Doc says do chemo, I think I would go with his/her suggestion.

Good Luck,
Connie

MarionW

I wonder if they have statistics as to how many people who didn't have chemo had a recurrence versus how many who had it. I know a lot of people who had the chemo and it still came back. There just are no guarantees with this. Chem is a very serious poison that does destroy healthy cells to include the immune system.

It's an individual decision we all have to make based on our physical, emotional and spiritual strength and life situation.

windrider

Hello,

I was diagnosed and had surgery in May of '05. There was no lymph involvement and the surgeon was sure it was all gone.

I opted for chemo...four doses, one every three weeks. My hair (all of it!) fell out and there were a few days with zero energy and some digestive issues.

Now, three years later, I am still NED and feel that I did all I could to fight an invisible and very tough enemy.

Good luck to you!

Peggy

Toddy

To have chemo or not is a very personal decision based on many factors such as age, other medical problems, what med. combination is to be used and the possible side effects of the infusions, etc.

When a surgeon say's "we got it all," they mean they have gotten all that they could see. It doesn't mean that there are not more cancer cells elsewhere waiting to grow.

I was diagnosed 1B after surgery and opted to have chemo knowing that there is some controversy of it improving chances for a 1B patient. It's been 2 1/2 years, I had one brain MET at twenty months post chemo which seems to have been taken care of by gamma knife. Last scans show no evidence of disease.

Chemo is never easy for anyone but even knowing how it made me feel I would make the same choice again.

Best wishes to you

hermanade

"I got it all" can never exclude, conclusively, the rogue cell(s) that slipped away and began its nasty behavior of rapidly dividing, even when the surgeon got "clean margins," and there were no mets or lymph node involvement. I also know that adenocarcinoma is particularly vulnerable to chemo because of how rapidly it grows, so it's DNA is more inclined to be damaged and the cancer halted.

If you can tolerate the chemo and its (potential) side effects and (often transient) after-effects, then I say go for it. I believe in augmenting one's chances of survival--not flying in inclement weather, opting out of the relay swim across the English channel, using two parachutes instead of one, or chemo.

Finally, I LOVE peyz's onc. surgeon's retort to her questioning why do adjuvant chemo: Because I am not G-d. That is rich!

Best of luck to you.

EddieSD

Kandy... back me up on this... YES have the chemo, then reach down and take off your toe tag...

None of us "know" how much time we have... I'm stage IV and I still feel like kickin this stuffs ass.

Don't read the longevity stats on the web... and never admit defeat.

LUV and SUPPORT

Chemo Boy Eddie

The Gargoyle

EddieSD

So where the hell have you been... :)

I havent heard from you in ages!

Eddie

Granny888

Some of us have very little, if any, problems with chemo. Personally, I'd go for it, but if it turned out awful right off the bat then rethink. You can always change your mind. Also, you are talking about 3 months out of your life.

My mom was told the chemo would increase by 50% her odds of making it to the 5 year mark. She made it to two but that was only because inbetween she had PRIMARY liver cancer come in and take a lobe of her liver. Then when the lung mets came it was in the other lobe of her liver and there just wasn't anything else they could do. She wasn't willing to do chemo again at that time. Part of the equation for her was that when she was doing the chemo the first time she developed a small bowel obstruction and overall was pretty sick.

It's an individual choice, I know you are sick and tired of being sick and feel bad for your family ... but again, it's one you can try and stop if you need to and getting sick and dying isn't going to necessarily make it easier on your wife. A lot to weigh, I know. Good luck with your choice.

peyz33

me? I've been trying to earn some money - I'm a headhunter and all my clients are going under....not too good for me business wise......ready to move to Florida and bag groceries.....lol

Tony590

Hi Sinecure: I'm sort of facing the same dilemma.
I'm 66. I had a lung primary in Feb. 08 (adenocarcinoma) and had it removed by surgery.
I was Stage 1 after surgery. I took scans every 3 months after lung surgery and the six month scan showed a metastatic tumor on my right adrenal gland.
Made me Stage IV. I had the adrenal tumor (adenocarcinoma) removed by surgery. Right now,
after recent tests I am NED, temporarily. The oncs
are telling me, pushing me, to get chemo to avoid any more metastasis. Every 3 weeks for 4 months. Very heavy stuff. Platinum doublet. I have heard a lot
about chemotherapy and it's not something I would want to go through. Tony590

jerseydebbie

My husband had two lobes of right lung removed June 3 (NSC squamous). He received radiation/chemo prior to surgery. Post pathology reported no traces of cancer in what was left of tumor, 11 lymph nodes, lining, etc.

Oncologist said that if we had received the same pathology report after surgery, but before treatments, chemo probably would not have been necessary. He said in essence, we may have done overkill.

Overkill? I feel better knowing #1) that we operated on dead tumor rather than live, and 2) that the extra step was taken to administer chemo. My husband was given a 70-80% chance of non-recurrence.

My husband has received the best treatment possible to remain cancer free. Our excellent specialists have covered all the bases. It is now in God's hands.

Yes, it is hard on the patient, spouse and family. But, hand in hand you get through the darkness and return to a wonderful light.

Give the chemo a lot of thought before you say no.

kaencarsmom

I would go for it. You may not experience to much bad side effects from the chemo. And if you do you can always stop. My dad was diagnosed with April with as stage one cancer and it was removed with his lobe and the doctor said "i got it all AND expect a cure" he actually said that. Within TWO months, TWO, my dad has a recurrence. AND he has several spots,, I would do the chemo. I cant say whether there would have been a recurrence had my dad done chemo initially but i would do it

Hope4Pops

My father tossed the "to chemo or not to chemo" up in the air for a while as well. He then decided to give it a try to see how it affected him. (Which is what we were hoping he would do.) He was so afraid it would make him sick. He is tollerating it well so far. He has had 2 rounds so far and besides major fatigue doing well. I will pray for you. You be sure to pray as well. God hears you. Best of luck to you! Keep us posted!

Heidi

donnamocha

I;m not sure whether to reply or start new discussion--first time here. Stage 1a post surgery 5 weeks. I would love to be able to find a doctor who would OFFER me chemo. I don't want to wait for the other shoe to drop in 3 months or 2 years and then wish I had done more to find therapy now. Any suggestions about how to find an oncologist who will offer chemo even tho "it isn't indicated".

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