My Mother's aden or (at least that is what we were told which I'm sure is accurate) is to be Stage III as it stands now. We do not know if it is 3A or B yet or hopefully not and God / nature willing is not Stage IV. The questions I have for now is: 1) The discharge report stated that the meditasinal lymph node(s) tested had tested positive for aden. Would the T.S. likely have biopsied / tested the other surrounding lymph nodes in her chest cavity and or any in her neck area and such...or...would that not of been possible during the two procedures she had during the one day she was to have both completed. She was in for about five & half hours.
The T.S. did not state if all other nodes in the immediate lung area /chest and surrounding nodes have been compromised...that is why I'm asking if he most likely would have tested these 'other' lymph nodes.
2) If lymph nodes are surgically removed how does one's body 'make up' for their removal if this even possible?
3) Are certain lymph nodes more important in their function as compared to other lymph nodes in ones's chest cavity and or lymphatic system?
4) The discharge report stated that her Thyroid has cancer..did not state how much it is compromised. My layman's knowledge (if hopefully correct) is..that one can live w/o your Thyroid but you must stay on maintenance drugs for your lifetime...is this true?
5) How are the majority of chemo treatments given & is one type of 'delivery' system usually more effective? Or I guess it depends on the individual, cancer type and the drug itself?
I apologize if it is too many at once or I missed the topics in the search. I am searching for some of these but sometimes I am either processing the search wrong or when I read it I am not sure if it applies to my Mother's case or to my question. Again...if I am wrong on this I sincerely apologize.
Thank you again so very much for your time, info and caring. .
Hello again - 1246188
dkm5859
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Reply # - July 31, 2012, 06:17 PM
Reply To: Hello again
Hi dkm5859,
Welcome to GRACE and thank you for your questions. In general, the faculty do prefer fewer questions per post, but I can direct you to some information that may help answer your questions, and if other questions remain you can always post again.
Whether certain lymph nodes were biopsied really depends on the scope of the surgery. Usually lymph nodes in the area accessible to the surgeon would be tested. Only a sampling of nodes is done, and you can read about this in a prior post by Dr. West: http://cancergrace.org/lung/2008/06/17/peoria-experience-with-surgery/ So you can see that not all the nodes are removed, so the system continues to function.
If a cancerous thyroid is removed, you are correct that medication must be taken to make up for the thyroid hormone no longer produced naturally by the body. This is not unusual and does not usually pose a problem.
Most cancer treatments are by IV infusion, but some of the newer drugs are given in pill form. For the most part it just depends on which drug is chosen in a particular situation.
Please ask any follow up questions you may have.
JimC
Forum moderator
Reply # - July 31, 2012, 06:40 PM
Reply To: Hello again
As Jim noted, there is a lot of variability in what nodes are removed, and the surgeon would really be the person who can answer that question.
There are hundreds of lymph nodes throughout the body. I have never heard of there being an issue with immunocompromise from removing lymph nodes -- to my knowledge, that really never happens from a surgery. There is a lot of redundancy in the human body, so removing a very small percentage of lymph nodes (and even removing 10-20 or more in some surgeries) isn't a practical concern. And no, there aren't certain lymph nodes that aren't expendable or are especially critical relative to others.
Thyroid cancer is very common, usually far less threatening than lung cancer, at least a lung cancer that is stage III or IV. The management of that is usually tabled until after lung cancer has been treated as effectively as possible.
The vast majority of chemo treatments given for stage III or IV lung cancer are intravenous. Very few are given as oral therapy. There are some oral targeted therapies that have an established role for a minority of people with a specific mutation, but they don't have any clear role for people with stage III NSCLC.
-Dr. West
Reply # - July 31, 2012, 09:49 PM
Reply To: Hello again
Other questions:
1). I hate to ask this type of question but here goes... I've been reading on different web sites that non smokers usually have a significantly higher chance of achieving NED status and or having longer survival periods than smokers? Is this true?
Is it also true that if one has certain genetic markers then certain individuals with given markers at times will respond to chemo much better.
Again...thank you very much.
Reply # - August 1, 2012, 09:28 AM
Reply To: Hello again
The link below will be a very good primer for you on molecular markers. I hope it is helpful. Remember to use the search feature. It will more than likely point you to what your looking for. If you are more inclined to have us do your search then let me point to our donation feature. :wink: http://cancergrace.org/donate
http://cancergrace.org/lung/2010/10/10/overview-of-molecular-markers-in…
Reply # - August 1, 2012, 11:04 AM
Reply To: Hello again
dkm, I want you to know I completely respect your need to understand what's going on and your pleads for help. Everyone here does. What we need is for you to spend some time finding some of this info on your own. I may not be very gentle or subtle but don't mistake me. I want to make sure you get what you need but as you've read in our guidelines we need you to use the resources we've put together.
I could say a lot more but wont... except, ; ) You are going through at least one of the most shocking and disturbing times of your life. Take a breath, take several, life has gotten significantly more difficult.
Janine
forum moderator