Hi everyone I hope you all had an enjoyable Xmas with your loved ones. My dad is going in for his last lot of chemo tomorrow and i'm feeling panicked. The doctor's won't be able to tell us about the next course of treatment until he has a CAT scan in two weeks. I asked him if I could get his doctor's number to discuss supplements, clinical trials, etc, but he said no, he will talk to them to discuss anything. I have to respect his wishes, but I feel really hopeless and don't want to sit around for the next two weeks. I want to be doing something. My mum suggested talking to the nurses in the chemo ward, but would they be able to help? Do we need to consult with anyone if this is his last lot of chemo? Would it interfere with the drugs? Caitlin ... View more

Hi Rubes Thanks very much for your suggestions. You're so young to have such an awful disease! My dad is 64 and that's bad enough. It's hard to talk to the treatment team, as they aren't always available when dad goes in for chemo. I think he maybe has to make an appointment to go in and talk to them. I asked him if I could have his doctor's number to talk to him, but he said he would deal with anything that needed to be discussed. I have to respect his wishes, but it's frustrating. He's got his last dose of chemo tomorrow, this will be the 4th cycle. Then there's a two week break to see what they're going to look at doing after that and he's got his CAT scan as well. It would be great to talk to someone inbetween for some suggestions to what we could do. I hope you don't mind if I send you a personal message. It would be great to get some more information about the things you discussed. Kind regards Caitlin ... View more

Hi Maddie Thanks for your reply. Are you saying that you tried the Issels Centre or that you tried diet alone? I'm sorry that it didn't work for you and yes when someone is given a terminal diagnosis, you want to try anything. Caitlin ... View more

Hi Julie Thanks for your reply. I don't really know what other options we have, other than looking into clinical trials. He's already on one and we've been told he's getting the placebo (they're not supposed to tell you that!) This place has been going for about 50 years, so I feel like that's saying something. I've always corresponded with a man who also had advanced lung cancer and was treated successfully there, so i'm hopeful about it. The big obstacle is the amount of money it costs. I'm going to try my hardest to find it though if there's a chance the treatment will work. I'm willing to try anything. I really feel like we don't have a lot of options with conventional treatments alone. This is their website: http://www.issels.com/ ... View more

Hi Star Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I'm sorry to hear about your mother. The person I am supporting has been given 8 months with treatment and 1 year without. He was diagnosed about 8 weeks ago and has chosen to receive chemo. He has a scan this week and has said, if it doesn't show any improvement, he might decide to stop the treatment, which is a frightening thought. How is your mother getting on? How are you coping? I'm doing ok at the moment. I've come over from New Zealand, so the biggest worry at the moment is paying for accommodation, food and transport. I need to try and find a job to support myself. I'm not staying with the person i'm supporting, as he is in a really small government housing unit. It would be great to talk to someone in a similar situation. Maybe we could met up for coffee sometime? If you'd like to contact me, please send me a Private Message I look forward to hearing from you Caitlin ... View more

Hi Vlasta I'm glad to hear something helped for you. I'll pass those suggestions on. Anything has to be better than alcohol and cigarettes! Caitlin ... View more

Hi Sailor Thanks very much for your reply. I've only just met my relative, so had no idea about the clinical trial until I was actually at the hospital with him and enquired about clinical trials. I doubt very much that he would have been put on one without his permission, so it most have slipped his mind with everything else he's having to deal with. Yes, I understood that the patient doesn't get told if they are the control group or not, but we were told he's in the group not receiving the Nitro, which is disappointing. Lung cancer is horrible and unfortunately in his case, preventable. He's still smoking and drinking. He's talked about trying to quit the smoking. I really worry about this and the effect it could have on his prognosis. Thanks for your support. Caitlin ... View more

Hi Ron Thanks for your reply. Your experience with chemo sounds awful. How many cycles did you have? My relative has been told that the taste should subside soon which is good. I don't know if smoking and drinking is helping matters much. Caitlin ... View more