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Hi,
We just found out Friday that my mom has mets to the brain. We were told in June that she was in remission.
If there are new mets present, does that mean the primary tumors are back as well? They mets have to come from somewhere right??
Thanks,
Michele
Cancer Weakness Pain Tarceva Lung cancer Physical therapy Xanax
Michelle,
So sorry to hear this about your mom.
This is my understanding. I hope it's accurate. When the tumor cells leave the primary and get into the blood stream, cancer becomes uncontained and is considered Stage 4. Once in the blood stream, the cancer cells can mets to any organ, ie the liver, the bones, the brain, etc. This does not mean that the primary is back, but rather that the cancer cells are traveling in the blood stream.
I know you will get more extensive comments than mine, but I hope my simple version is helpful.
This is a dreadful hideous disease. I'm stage 4 also. Adrenal gland mets.
Peace,
"Faith" Joanne
Thanks for the info Faith. That makes sense I guess. This has just really taken us by surprise after hearing that wonderful word 'remission'. I just never dreamed it would be back so fast. In hindsight, I wonder why they didn't do an MRI of her brain after her chemo was done to check for mets at that point. They never suggested prophalytic brain radiation for her either which I'm learning is kind of a standard thing after finishing chemo for lung CA.
We can't turn back the clock and 'what ifs' don't change the 'what is' I guess. All we can do now is take it one day at a time and put it in Gods hands.
You're right, this is a dreadful, hideous disease. Please know that you are in my prayers as is everyone else on these boads that are dealing with this monster.
Take care and stay strong,
Michele
I don,t know what to say , i,m cofused myself . my husband ia back in the hospital with pneumon they think he has mets to the liver , i don,t know what i,m going to do .. Nancy
Michele,
My mom also has SCLC. Brain MRI was clear when tumor was found in lung. SHe went through treatment, chemo and radiation. When she had her scans when finished the tumor in lung was gone but she had a suspicious spot on her brain. I asked how that could be and they explained that chemo can't penetrate the brain so it is a place they can go.
My mom went ahead with PCI, has your mom had this done? We will scan in August. Even if the PCI doesn't get it I know our Dr.'s have said there are other options. Stay strong!
I am sorry to explain my whole situation but I thought it may help.
Prayers to you,
Dana
Hi, Michele:
I'm sorry that after the glorious news that your Mom was in remission turned out to be another worry about mets to the brain.
I finished chemo not long ago, and my onc referred me to another doctor who does radiation to the brain.
When I had a discussion with the radiation doctor, he told me (as had my onc), that they always do radiation to the brain with small cell lung cancer, because the cancer has proven to be conducive to mets in the brain. When I asked the question, "why do I have to have radiation to my brain when the onc told me I was in remission?" and the answer was that chemo does not invade the brain, there is some barrier that chemo can't treat the brain, and again, that the reason for it was PREVENTATIVE in case a cell or more cells went to the brain. He said that the cancer cells that MIGHT already be in the brain could not be seen if they were small, and with small cell cancer, it is a very aggressive type of cancer.
I have had four radiation treatments to my brain so far, and will go for the fifth one in an hour or so. There will be a total of 15 treatments, 5 days a week, but the treatments after the initial ones are done in a few minutes. The first appointment is pretty scary (or at least it was for me). I have claustophobia really bad, and what they do is make a mask of your head and face except for a small hole so you can breath. They put some type of what felt like rubber, but isn't, in a warm water bath, and then came and put it on my face, adjusting it and pushing it in. It took everything I had to withstand that, but I made it through. When I went for my next treatment, the mask had hardened, real hard, and they put that on my head and face, and made snaps buckle it down in several places. Again, I am having a terrible time tolerating the invasion of my face but had to talk to myself to get through it.
I hope this helps.
God bless you and your Mom and family during this tough and tryibg time, and keep your eye on the prize as they say (meaning, hopefully, that they will eradicate the brain mets.
Barb
Barb,
Thanks for sharing your story with me. My mom went through that exact process this afternoon with the mask thing and like you, she is very claustraphobic. We had to give her a couple Xanax before she went done but after it was all said and done, she said it wasn't so bad. She will go for 5 days for 3 weeks.
I still have no answer as to why preventative brain radiation wasn't done after she finished her chemo.....believe it or not, her onc didn't bother to show his face at the hospital today. Every other doctor rounded but not him. I was there from 6 am this morning until 7 pm tonight waiting to see him..... Arrgghhh, I could scream.
Have you had any side effects from your treatments yet? Since my mom went in with some serious mental status changes before it was caught, they are talking about having her go to a short term rehab type place during treatment because she is still not 100% herself. The steroids have helped and she insists she's fine, but really, she's not and I'm scared to have here home by herself let alone behind the wheel of a car.
I'll keep you posted.
Michele
Hi everyone,
My mom has been battling SCLC since Feb 2008. She went through chemo and the preventative brain radiation and did wonderfully, until last month she found out she has some brain lesions. She has went through 10 more rounds of radiation along with steroids. Presently she is in a short term rehab facility because she is having some slight motor weakness so she is getting physical therapy, I am concerned because since the radiation ended 3 days ago she seems a little disoriented and somewhat scattered in her mental state as well as very weak with her walking. I am really concerned about the mental status, she is being weaned off the steroids and will be off them by Monday, does anyone have any clue if her mental state will improve. She is just not herself. I lost my Dad to NSCLC in April, so I am sure you all can imagine I am at my wits end as is my mother who is also battling her grief from losing him... sigh... what a horrible disease. Thank you all and God Bless! Shannon
Hi all,
My mom was diagnosed with SCLC in June 2008 and finished PCI and chest radiation in Dec. 2008. She was very fuzzy mentally for a month or so, and definitely not herself. She slept through most of Jan., Feb., and March, and began to come out of it in April. Her walking was very unsteady initially, but has improved greatly over the past couple of months. Our onc and radiologist told us that personality changes can be expected with PCI, but it would probably be minor. Today, with the help of anti-depressants, she is more her old self.
My husband diagnosed January 2008 Stage IV NSCL with NO MET until... We had a great vacation to Florida on our Harleys. 20 hours some on his bike. When we got back he develope a pain in his ribs. After being berated by our OC about being too active and thinking that he pulled a muscle bah, bah he had a CT and the cancer looked stable, no mets and no apparently reason for the pain. Four week later a PET was done and low and behold a new nodes. It is soooooo hard to make sense of anything in this disease. We have the report and my gosh you have to be a doctor to translate plus apparently we are now released for a while to a radiation dr. At first we didn't have that option for Radiation now let's try...Anyway mets are mets and you deal after bring yourself back up. It's watching your loved one go thru with no control. Hung in there and write your trouble away.
Michele,
I'm sorry to hear about your mom. But I wanted to let you know that there is one chemo that crosses the blood/brain barrier and that is Tarceva. It helps to eliminate tumors already there and prevent new ones. None of the IV chemos will do this.
Ask about it for your mom. There is a good chance she may respond to it and not have to face any further radiation treatments. It's worth asking about. It is actually chemo in a pill form you take once a day.
Good luck and God Bless
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