Q&A: Help with cancer questions?
Posted on | May 29, 2010 | 3 Comments
Question by renee: Help with cancer questions?
My mother in the last two years has been through a lot with many different doctors. She was in Washington state where she was diagnosed with stage II lung cancer, and mesothelioma. This was Novermer of 07. At that time they had decided not to treat her because of her over all health. She also has COPD. This also prevented them from doing a biopsi. Several months passed and there was no progression of the cancer, as well no treatment. In September of 09 I convinced her to move to Minnesota and see different docors, Being there she still hadnt seen an oncologist. She was not given a referal, She was told that it wasn’t needed becuse there was no biopsi. She was in to see an oncologist 2 weeks after she was here they did Xrays CTs and tons of blood work all said and done in October she was told that she was cancer free. She did have a tumor in her lung but in comparison to her CTs and petscans in Washington it had not grown a mm in 2 years, there for could not be cancer. November 17th she was called by the oncologist and asked to schedual a new pet scan. That was done the following Monday. December 7th she was told that she has stage 4 mastetic bone cancer. With no known origin. Still no cancer in the lung, lymphnods, or any other organs. She and I are at a loss I have never heard anyone going through anything like this before. I am open to any helpfull comments, or opinions.
well there was no mesothelioma detected in the last pet scan the only cancer that was detected was in the bone and they say that is secondary this is what is so confusing
Best answer:
Answer by miss H
I hate to tell you this, but stage 4 metastatic bone cancer is not a good diagnosis and probably untreatable. So it probably doesn’t make much difference where the cancer originated. I imagine it may have well been her lungs, if that was what they first suspected. And also because I guess from her history, they suspected she may have been exposed to asbestos or been a smoker.
Because they couldn’t do a biopsy then they couldn’t confirm this for sure. A petscan just shows cell metabolic activity, and cancers usually have high metabolic activity. But not all tests are 100% reliable, so sometimes it can be difficult to know for certain.
It is very hard when giving someone such a diagnosis, because doctor’s don’t want to get it wrong. But sometimes they do, or the tests aren’t completely accurate.
I hope that they can at least reduce her symptoms as much as possible.
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3 Responses to “Q&A: Help with cancer questions?”
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May 29th, 2010 @ 10:39 am
Ok I’m gonna try to throw some ideas…even though I’ve worked in Health care for 10+ yrs. the ONLY help, comments, etc are just from personally going through cancer with my dad.(stage IV lung).
Always go w/your gut feeling-sounds corny but women’s intuition is (strangely) right a lot of the time. Ok, it sounds like in 07′ THAT doctor decided treatment wasn’t an option due to her health? If it was her family doctor and not a specialist he was going by the report the radiologist gave him. Was it just that one doctor’s opinion? I think maybe he wouldn’t do a biopsy due to anesthesia or felt she wasn’t strong enough for surgery? IDK just trying to think of possibilities. I, myself think that if it was a family doctor and there is any suspicions whatsoever esp. any lesions, (regardless) I do not understand the non-referral to an oncologist especially if there is no biopsy to confirm that tumor was benign.
Ok so she did see an oncologist when she moved? That sounds right in ordering x-rays, CT’s and blood work. How often after she was told her test were clear did she go in for blood work after the Oct. visit? Did they do follow-up lab tests or did they just call out of the blue a month later? If she was going in for labs then they might have noticed something irregular and notified her to come in (they have “markers” in cancer lab values). Did she come in for any labs after she was told in Oct. she was clear? If so, it would be they saw something in later labs…in cancer cells begin to grow at a much faster rate. A PET scan can take pictures of abnormal cell structures to diagnose anything from Alzheimer’s to heart disease to most cancers. The “digital pictures” are assembled by the computer of a patients body. If (they are looking for cancer) the signals will be much stronger there than in surrounding tissues. The PET scan can also tell WHETHER A TUMOR IS BENIGN OR MALIGNANT. For example, an ovarian cancer patient with a blood test that indicated a rise in her tumor marker levels had a PET scan after both CT and MRI scans were still registering no cancer. Only the PET scan showed the new cancer.
When my dad was diagnosed he was stage IV lung cancer that had metastasized. Xray-s done 2 months earlier didn’t detect a single thing and it was only after his back pain wouldn’t go away after 2 months a CT was ordered and he was diagnosed.
I hope any of this at ALL helps….like I said I have been there especially during the confused state. I have worked in the medical field but my knowledge of cancer comes only from family experience.
God Bless.
May 29th, 2010 @ 11:36 am
If she has no cancer in the lung, lymph nodes, or any other organs, how do they know it is stage 4 bone cancer? They would have to see mets somewhere. Or do you mean she has stage 4 cancer with mets to the bone? There is a huge difference. And what happened to the mesothelioma? This kind of cancer usually spreads rapidly.
May 29th, 2010 @ 12:14 pm
Go to Gerson.org and call them up they have been helping people with cancer naturally for a long time.Just by changing her diet and eating the right foods and juicing she will start seeing a big difference in her health.So do not wait to call them.Do not let people tell you there is not a cure when there is.I wish your mom all the best.