Anyone knowledgeable about cancer?

Question

My brother was diagnosed in late June w/ cancer. He has a softball size tumor on his back that the doctors say is very aggressive. He has spots on his lungs and liver. He just started radiation for this growth on his back only(they originally thought it was his rotator cup because his arm was in so much pain. OK, they said he is to do 5 days a week for 5 days then they want to do a ct scan on his throat and brain to see if they are affected. After 2 days of radiation, which lasts like 15 min he is doing things he has never did. He is not recognizing people at times, he is urinating on himself, and he has walked out of the bathroom naked. He is no medication except for something to help him sleep and something to help with his appetite. What I am having a hard time with is why do they want to do scan AFTER the radiation. Why didn;t they do everything before he started so they could radiate everything?? Something has obviously traveled to his brain. This is labor day weekend and my sister-in-law wants to wait till Tuesday to talk to the dr. Anyone have any knowledge of what might be happeneing? Oh yeah, the doctors don't know what kind of cancer he has they just know it originated somewhere in the upper body. Thank you

Answer 1

I'm so sorry for you and your family.

I would not jump to the conclusion that the cancer has gone to his brain, although I would get it checked out.

They do the scan after radiation to see how effective the radiation is.  They can only do a small area at a time, so if it's somewhere else they may have to do it a different times.  I'm curious if they took out the tumor in surgery first and if not, why?  They generally take them out first because the radiation makes it very brittle and hard and difficult to take out.

When my grandmother had radiation she was very sick and did things she never did before - her brain was very slow and she forgot things all the time.  She also was irritable and lost some of her control over impulses - she would yell, cuss, etc when she never did before.

I would ask the radiologist at his next appointment for radiation - go with him and ask them if this kind of reaction is normal.  Also have the doctors check his brain as soon as possible.

Good luck, I hope it all goes well.

Answer 2

To begin with  . . it is totally unacceptable that he has not been diagnosed. Just radiating the growth is going to do very little except provide him with relief . . it sounds like this is palliative care.  From your description of the tumor and its location . . it sounds like a sarcoma. I don't know if it is or not . . but would suspect one. If this is a sarcoma than he immediately needs to be seen by a sarcoma specialist or go to a sarcoma center . . immediately. Especially if his doctors are treating him without knowing what type of cancer this is . . a sarcoma requires a specialist.

If this tumor is an unidentified sarcoma you might request that it be sent to a top specialist for evaluation:

http://pathology.emory.edu/AdminFacultyM...

It is extremely important to find out exactly which type of cancer a patient is dealing with as it will determine the type of treatment.

You do not mention your brothers age . . but I would also question why he is not in the hospital until a definitive diagnosis has been made.

Your sister in law should NOT wait until Tuesday. Call his doctor or the doctor on call right now. This is their job. They will want you to call 24/7 . . . do not wait. Call and discuss his symptoms . . they may want to admit him.

None of this sounds just right . . so you may be confused . . the most important thing is that your brother needs to be definitively diagnosed . . usually only a biopsy will determine that . . and than treatment will be offered . . . this sounds very much like sarcoma .. and if it is . . than only a specialist should be treating him.

good luck with this.