Living with Lung Cancer

My Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer in May 2007. She is a two year breast cancer survivor. During a routine check-up (chest x-ray), her doctor discovered a spot on her lung. At first we thought the breast cancer had metastisized to the lung, but after tests it was determined to be lung cancer (III-B non small cell)

My Mom has smoked cigarettes for over 40 years, though not a heavy smoker for the last 10 or so. She quit after the breast cancer diagnosis, but later began to smoke several cigarettes a day. She has quit again.

Her doctor began a regimen of chemotherapy After her 2nd treatment, she became very naseaus and ate and drank very litte for a week. She eventually had to be admitted to the hospital because of dehydration.

She was so sick that now she is considering not taking anymore chemotherapy. Her doctor is very pushy about the chemotherapy at this point and makes her feel bad about it. I think it should be the patient’s decision whether or not to take the chemotherapy I think doctors should inform their patients about treatment options and respect the patient’s decision.

My Mom is very confused right now about what she should do. She said she would rather have a shorter life of quality than a longer life feeling awful.