AboutMargot RN BScN CGN Expertise I nursed my own Mother and Grandmother at home when they were dying so I have personal experience with the emotions involved. I have also spent the last 15+ years as a Registered Nurse caring for The Elderly and Terminally Ill and it has brought me great satisfaction. I am willing to answer any questions I can.
Experience
Past/Present clients Hundreds of Long Term Care Residents as well as hundreds of Cleitns and families in the community (including my Mother and Grandmother).
Question A close friend in our group has lung cancer stage four it has gone to the lymph nodes, and throat. Pain is very bad and when the operation was done two ribs were broken. The doctors stitched up without doing much. Chemo has started and this now seems to late. What is the point when the person is in so much pain How long has this person got? Should all the family be called? The person is at home and struggling to come to terms with their circumstances mostly because the medical proffession are not being honest.
Dawn
Answer Hi Adrienne and thanks for writing,
I am sorry to read about your friend. Sometimes medical professionals do what they can and not necessarily what they should, but it’s difficult to guess without being familiar with your friend’s medical history. I always encourage people to ask as many questions as they need to until they feel comfortable that they truly understand all the treatment options and associated risks and benefits. Often yonder patients are treated more aggressively with the hope that their disease can be slowed down and in he best situations eradicated.
Stage 4 is the most advanced stage, where the cancer has spread. Understandably, the survival statistics are lowest for this stage. Unfortunately, lung cancer is often diagnosed late and many people already have lung cancer spread when they are diagnosed. Fewer than 5 out of every 100 people (less than 5%) diagnosed with stage 4 non small cell lung cancer will live for at least 5 years.
No statistics can tell you what will happen to your friend, every cancer is unique. The same type of cancer can grow at different rates in different people for example.
The statistics are not detailed enough to tell you about the different treatments people may have had. And how that treatment may have affected their prognosis. Chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy may help people to live longer as well as relieving symptoms. There are many individual factors that will determine your treatment and prognosis. If you are fit enough to have treatment, you are likely to do better than average, particular if your cancer is more advanced.
