My mom has stage 4 lung cancer what is her chances of survival?

Question

My mom has stage 4 lung cancer what is her chances of survival?

Answer 1

  The only people able to answer this question for you are her doctors.

  

Answer 2

Well, I'm sorry to hear that....

But for goodness sake, don't listen to anything anyone here tells you!!!

This is a question you need to talk to you Mom and her doctor about, not anyone here.  Most of the folks on this board are 12, and they don't know squat about anything besides the Joans Brothers. No matter what they say, they will be talking out of their behind.

I am NOT a doctor, but I do know that stage 4  implies that the cancer spread to other organs or throughout the body...which is not a good thing...but lot will depend on how badly and how far and where the cancer has spread, what course of treatments are available, and, quite frankly, how much of a fight your mom can, or wants to, put up.

My father in law had lung cancer, and he fought for two long and miserable years...chemo, radiation, etc. he was tough. Finally he got Pneumonia in his one remaining lung  and he died...mainly because he had decided he had had enough. He told me once that he wasn't going to go through another round of chemo and radiation...he was just sick of being sick and he wanted to get it over with and go home.

My Dad had stomach cancer...he had seen my older brother die of brain cancer in the early 60s (again with the radiation and chemo) and he just said "Dude, I'm in my 80s, all the kids are grown, I'm to old for this stuff."  He just skipped the chemo and radiation and went to hospice. He died happy and I think it was a good move on his part.

So talk with people that know what is going on, your Mom and her doctor, and your priest. If you don't have a priest, now would be a good time to go get one.

Answer 3

I can't believe that your mother's doctor has not already informed  the family of what to expect. You need to ask the doctor.  Then spend as much time as possible with your mother and tell her how much you love her.  I'm sorry to hear this.

Answer 4

My mum also has stage 4 lung cancer.

We found this out approximately 3 months ago.

She has undergone about 30 radiation therapy treatments and chemotherapy all in the last 6 or so weeks.

We were told by the oncologist and the radiotherapist that just because it is a stage 4 due to the size of the tumour, they were hopeful of actually curing it. It hadn't spread anywhere else in the body so for that we were thankful. Now after all her treatment she is doing really well, we do have to wait about 5 weeks for another scan to see how much the tumour has shrunk but going by what the doctors have said, things are looking good. We are very optimistic and know it is gonna be good news. Please don't dwell on the staging part of the diagnosis, sometimes it can be a little confusing.

One great thing that came out of this is that by complete mistake while mum was having a PET scan for the lung cancer, they found an early stage breast cancer too, these are both totally unrelated and because of that my mum was able to have a partial mastectomy to remove the breast cancer. We have 12 months of chemotherapy now to cover the breast cancer but we'll get there.

So will you, whatever the next day brings, you will deal with it, take each day at a time, I was lucky to have a dear friend to talk to through some tough times, he helped me be strong.

You are probably thinking all of the things that we were thinking after the diagnosis, how long? etc.

No one can tell you that but I really do wish you and your mum lots of luck and remember there are lots of people you can talk to if you need to.

If you want to talk about it to a stranger, email me. I'm not sure I can be of much help but I will try x*x

Answer 5

Does she date?

Answer 6

you need to believe that you are getting better all the time, go back and have a heart and heart talk  

Answer 7

I'll try and give you an answer, although I am not an oncologist (I am a doctor however) I feel that if you ask for the statistics, you should get the statistics.

Stage 4 cancer means that the cancer has metastases in other parts of the body. The prognosis is mainly dependent on where it has moved to and if she is strong enough to receive chemotherapy.

I'm not your mother's oncologist, so I can't go into too much detail i.e. where the tumors are, where the metastases are, how easy they are to be surgically removed etc.

But generally, the prognosis isn't good. Supposedly, 15-35% of patients survive for a year, but the number drops to 2% after 5 years.

Of course, statistics count on the average, there is a good chance that your mother might well live longer than 2 years, so I wouldn't lay any bets on the statistics.

I hope your mother survives, good luck.

Answer 8

I'm so sorry about your mom :( My prayers are with her and you. My mother also has Stage IV lung cancer and is currently enrolled in home hospice services. Her prognosis was not good and the Oncologist told her they could extend her life by maybe 6 months or more with some new treatment, one is a pill in leau of Chemo that is rather new to the field but I forget the name, your mom's oncologist will know.

They gave mom 4-6 months in May, 4 months later she is stil up every day putting on her makeup. The hospice nurse informed us that she has had some stage IV lung cancer patients for 2 years on hospice! Hospice is only paleative care, when the patient is ready for help in the dying process and no longer wants treatment, which is my mom's case.

We are currently doing a "bucket list" and going to the beach a lot, even planned a trip to Hawaii! I am fortunate to be able to be here and spend these last times with my mom and I believe it is important to cherish every day and take that time to talk and hug and make sure she knows just how much she means to me. I, also, wonder how long she has left, but I try not to think about it and concentrate on he time we DO have left together.

Sorry, probably not very helpful to your question but I hope it helps a bit. Lung cancer is an awful thing, there are meds out there that do control the pain quite well while keeping the quality of life at a good level, as your mom's oncologist about the Phentanyl patch, it does wonders for mom's pain after several other things did not work.

Answer 9

I won't lie to you... stage 4 is very serious, as it means that the cancer has metastasized in other organs of the body..

HOWEVER, though your mom's life might be shortened, she may have some time left on her life.

It would be good for her to get with her oncologist and discuss nutrition, chemo options, and other things that might help her make the most of the time she has left.

One of my closest friends was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in April of '07.  She was told she had very little time left.  She did her best to take it easy, exercise when she could, and eat right (periodically, anyway).  Anyway, she lived for almost a year and a half past the original diagnosis. She died this past week on Aug. 17.

Here is a website about stage 4 lung cancer:  http://www.cancercenter.com/stage-4-lung...

Here is a site, from American Cancer Society, about "staging" in cancer diagnoses:  http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/conten...

Answer 10

i no nothing about that but just believe that God is going to help her, even if she doesnt survive, if she is a believer of Christ she will live ina better place with God in Heaven! i will be praying for ur mother!