Friend has terminal cancer?

Question

My friend was diagnosed with pancriatic & lung cancer in April 07. She had chemo & radiotheraphy. It returned to the lung and 3 wks ago they started Radiotheraphy again. Last week she was in terrible pain in her leg & she had an mri scan. She was told she has spots in the bone & brain and they are starting chemo on Wed next.

My question is..why do chemo again?..Is it going to help?.. I don't think so

Answer 1

I am so sorry for you as well as for your friend.  A year ago I lost my closest friend to leukemia.  She too had chemo over and over and over again.  2 days before she died the doctor said she was in remission and said she'd be having the bone marrow transplant soon.  They had already found a donor match and were just waiting for her to complete the last round of chemo.  Then her kidneys shut down and they called us all to the hospital.  She was already in a coma when I got there.  The cause of death was not cancer -- it was the chemo which had killed the good cells as well as the bad. Chemo can be wonderful, in fact it can be a life saver, but you have to know when to say enough.  My friend's last weeks were sheer agony, and she still died. Just be there for her.  Tell her how much you love her.  Let her talk and really listen to what she has to say.  I think some times people don't talk about their pending death because they want to spare us, but how awful to have to face it alone.  She'll appreciate having a friend like you.

Answer 2

sometimes its given palliatively to ease pain.

Answer 3

I have af friend who also has terminal cancer who hasn't been offered any treatment yet. Your friend is lucky and maybe chemo will help reduce the cancer and give your friend hope. Please wish them all the best

Answer 4

It is a very difficult decision for everyone and questions like this should be a joint arrangement between doctors and patient. There is indeed a very fine line between giving a patient the best chance of painless survival and struggling officiously to prolong life.

Answer 5

ok terminal means its there forever so your friend is very poorly they are giving her chemo to try and get her a few extra days/weeks/months/years so yes it is doing something some people give up the ghost when they are thyis poorly and die so make sure you make the most of the time you have with your friend and be the nicest you can possibly be sorry to hear about this sweety good luck xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Answer 6

Let her have hope. From what you say it sounds like you have given up on her. Support her and be positive that could make a difference. It can help to give her will power which can be a strong motivation which may help her to overcome this.

Answer 7

Every case is different, however; I have had first hand experience watching my mother go through chemotherapy for terminal cancer for 3 years.  From what I know, as long as there is hope of the chemotherapy prolonging life without compromising other organs or quality of life, they will continue to do so.   You can always pray for a miracle in the meantime because miracles do happen.  Unfortunatly my mother just passed away 1 month ago today from a long battle of cancer - and believe you me, she would never have survived 3.5 years if it weren't for her mind, spirit and I hate to say it ... but the chemotherapy.  I am one of those 'out of the box' girls that do like the homeopathic route and believe cancer is just one monsterous money making scheme.  All I can say is stand by your friends side, stay positive and never stop praying for a miracle!!  Although realistically my moms passing was inevitable - I just never believed it would take her life ... so the passing is devastating ... but also trying to differentiate between being realistic , and being positive is a tough cycle to be trapped in.  Also, be sure the doctors / oncologist are supplying your friend with all the proper medication to ward off the nasty side effects.  My mom was on the most potent chemo - and although there were side effects that could not be sworn off... she was on some great steroids and antinauseants.    All the best to you.

Answer 8

well the doctors must think that it would work otherwise they would only be able to offer pallative care.i hope your friend comes through it.

Answer 9

Dont' worry about the first person who answered. I think I'd ask the same question as you. If it's terminal, then why bother going through all that ****. Personally if I had cancer, specially terminal. I wouldn't go through that for ****. I've seen it and it's the worst thing someone can go through. And the way radiation treatment works, is, lets hope that we'll kill the cancer before the rest of the body dies. You see it's a poison, and it just starts killing the rest of your body. And they hope that it kills the cancer in the process. There are new ways of doing this in directing it, but then a lot of doctors misdiognose cancers. I know it's happend four times to two different people I know.  

Answer 10

If You haven't given up on your friend, then buy getb this book now http://tinyurl.com/67qg7x

It can prove life saving!  

Answer 11

guy in the link answers these things better than i can

also search 'creating health' and 'quantum healing' by deepak chopra

Answer 12

So you'd rather they give up on your friend and leave her to die?

Answer 13

Two years ago I was diagnosed with 2 terminal illnesses and given 2 months to 5 years to live... (average lifespan for my illnesses is less then 5 years)... why fight?   because Fighting is better then giving up and crawling in a ball to die... Fighting to live is better then waiting to die.   If you fight, there is a chance - - - no matter how small- - - that something might work and you could live longer... because dying is something no one really wants to do... especially if they are still in the prime of their lives...  So, you fight, you take the chemo and the radiation and the medications and you get sick but you live a little longer or, by a miracle, you go into remission but you get one more day of life MAYBE... and no one knows better how precious that one more day of life can be then someone who has been given a death sentence.