Lung cancer?
Non small cell lung cancer is extremely common. If you are looking for a support group, try the local cancer society or the hospital. There are lots of very useful groups around.
Death after stage 2b lung cancer diagnosis?
I recently lost a family member due to lung cancer and everything happened so fast tht it still feels like he could have lived longer. Here is what happened: He went in for shortness of breath and bad cough. They told him he had pneumonia and saw a mass on his lung. 4 days later the did a bronchoscopy and his lung collapsed and he ended up in icu. a few days later the results came back as stage 2b lung cancer. He was in poor health due to his heart and diabetes so they did not want to do surgery cause it would kill him. They tried Chemotherapy at baby doses and his heart went into pvcs and irregular rhythms so they stoped. We went 3-4 days with him on a vent system before a dr finally talked to us and all he said was there was nothing else he could do for him tht he was going to die and tht he would be better off in hospice. The dr said he might only live one day in hospice once off the vent system. We got him to hospice and 3 days went by and he was walking, talking and seemed fine. I got concerned there was a mistake made somewhere but the nurses said it was normal for him to get well for a short time. on the 5th day they started giving him more meds to help him sleep and for pain. Then one night after they gave him some morphine he went in to a coma. Then he died about 6 hours later. Does all of this sound right or does it sound like they gave up on him and killed him? It is just eatting me up not knowing. Cause most of the time he was in the hospital he kept telling me they were lying to us. Any answer would help. i just need clarification
What is the life expectancy of someone with stage 4 lung cancer, without treatment from the time of diagnosis?
I liked all previous answers. To those I would add that it depends on:1- Type of cancer: Small cell lung cancer grows much faster than non-small cell type (squamous, adenocarcinoma…) and could kill someone within weeks (though we don’t classify it in stages 1–4).2- Biological characteristics of the cancer: Within each histological type, some cancers can be well differentiated and grow slower, or poorly differentiated and be more aggressive.3- The burden of disease. Not all stage IV patient’s are the same. Someone can be classified as stage IV just for having one solitary metastasis to the adrenal gland. While another stage IV patient can have multiple metastases involving also bones, liver, brain… Even if both are considered incurable, the survival will likely be different. The more advanced the cancer is (the larger the number of metastatic sites ) the more likely it will be lethal soon. Also, untreated brain mets carry a very poor prognosis.4- Overall condition of the patient: A patient who’s already weak from other medical problems (stroke, emphysema, CHF…) will likely last shorter. The “performance status” or how functional the patient is (how long do they spend active vs. lying in bed) is also a good predictor. Bedridden patients are expected to have a much shorter life expectancy, of barely weeks.5- Surprise events. Patients with cancer, especially those with adenocarcinoma type, have a tendency to develop blood clots, and some patients just don’t wake up one morning because they threw one into their lungs (pulmonary embolism). That’s actually the quickest, most painless way to go, and it’s unpredictable.In general, I liked the statistics offered by Dr. Matos, but I also liked the responder who said “every time we try to guess we’re wrong.” And the respondent who said “Everybody should make sure to live each day as if it could be the last one.” One piece of guess-work I like is the observation that when the patients are so weakened by the cancer and other illnesses that they become fully bedridden, it is safe to predict the death will arrive within weeks.
Life expectancy of someone with small cell lung cancer?
Small Cell Lung Cancer is one in which a percentage of folks may have long term survival. It is a cancer that is very responsive to treatment, but many cases tend to recur. If diagnosed early (Limited Stage) chemotherapy and radiation will allow 20% of cases to survive at least 5 years. If diagnosed late (Extensive Stage), 5 year survival is much worse (around 1%).
I have stage 4 cancer, should I fear death?
My grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2005. Even after that, she still continued working as a teacher and principal because she refuses to stay still and simply wait for death. She battled out cancer head on. She accepted that she was sick but she refused to believe that death is the only thing in her future. She religiously took her meds and had regular check-ups but she also made sure that she's still living her life. And two years later she was pronounced cancer free. Today she's still working as an educator.What I learned from her is that we shouldn't let sickness or the idea of death keep us from living our lives. I think we all worry about dying. We are afraid of being forgotten and becoming nothing. We also fear that all our works and deeds would be for nought because of the uncertainty of an afterlife. Afraid, that there may be nothing after death. But fearing death will only choke you, the people around you and will only make things worse. Death is natural and we all have to accept that we will all have to depart from this life. Strive to be good and to be happy because in the end, it's the depth of your life not the length that would matter anyway. I would also like to leave one of my favorite quotes here:“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ― Mark TwainI hope this would help and I hope you get well and live a happy life.
How long can a late stage cancer patient live without food and water?
I can’t speak for all people, but this is my story. My mother died of Pancreatic Cancer in August of 2015. Time from diagnosis to death was 7 months. She chose to die at home with in-home hospice care.I live about 1.5 hours away from my parents house and went there to visit every weekend. Basically I was with my family for 4 days a week, and with my parents for 3 for most of the 7 months of her illness. I was very aware that each time I saw her, she would be the best she was ever going to be, and the next time would be worse.She was unable to have a Wipple procedure due to metastisis, and declined any chemotherapy as it was uncertain if there was enough time to gain any benefit over the known side effects. She was made as comfortable as possible with painkillers and other meds.Her appetite gradually reduced throughout her illness, to the point where about 2 weeks before death she would not eat at all, only take a little Pediasure - about 1–2 oz per day, and very little water.When I came one weekend and my Father told me she had stopped drinking, I knew the end was very near and planned to not go home. She died that Sunday afternoon.
How can a person have terminal cancer with no symptoms?
In 1993 I was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer with metastases in the bowel, uterus, cervix and both lungs. And there was type 2 diabetes as well.The doctors told me that there was nothing they could do and that I had 6 months to live, a year if I was really lucky. So it was considered terminal.I did have some symptoms but they were vague and I generally felt healthy.The main symptom that I had and which I had gone to the doctor about repeatedly was vaginal thrush. He kept giving me various typse of creams and suppositories for months. Then one day he was away and there was a locum, who was more thorough and he discovered the cervical and uterine cancer.I couldn’t believe it because I felt really healthy, had lots of energy and didn’t feel sick. So I went to Sydney for a second opinion.I had a small amount of cough, particularly if someone made me laugh while I was smoking. I also had a reddish brown phlegm from time to time, which I thought was basically nicotine due to the smoking. And I had a chemical smell coming from my vagina, especially around my periods. And sometimes with my periods there was large, what I thought were clots of blood, but more likely tissue being expelled from my uterus. Again I didn’t recognise any of these symptoms as anything much.On my way to Sydney, which was around 2600kms, about 2/3rds of the way down the cough, the reddish brown phlegm, the chemical smell and the blood clots/ tissue all vanished. And I was still smoking like a chimney at that time, about 20 cigarettes a day.So my terminal cancer was already going into remission before I had the second diagnosis. The doctors though found it very hard to believe that the cancer was going into remission because of how extensive it was. But it did go into remission. By mid 1994 when I had more tests there was no evidence of disease (NED). They couldn’t explain it.