recurring ext sclc within a month- Doctor advised against 2nd line chemo - 1250512

Hello Dr West
I previously posted about my dad- diagnosed ext sclc with lymph node & liver mets in June after developing hyponatremia. 6 cycles of carbo/etop.- CT scan on 8th Oct ( a wk before cycle 6 & the first he received- for some reason they didn't do one mid-cycle) showed 1 chest tumor disappeared/2 shrunk by 60%, barely detectable in liver.
Dad developed lower back pain 2 wks ago - we thought from a strained muscle from over- exerting himself carrying a heavy object, but a bone scan on 18th Nov revealed suspicious masses in pelvis and along spine. Docs say its bone mets. He has become alot weaker in the last 2 weeks, made worse by bad constipation; lethargic, weak on his legs & low appetite. Today he was finally able to go to wc ( apologies for tmi) and felt much better as a result.

Doc's said he can get radiotherapy to the spine for pain management, but 2nd line chemo would be of no real benefit due to his cancer coming back so soon. They said 2nd line chemo is a combo of 3 agents- called it 'Orca'- Cisplatin & don't recall the other 2- and quite strong. He would be risking his life for little or no benefit to undertake it. I asked if radiotherapy on spine would possibly shrink the tumors there, doc said possibly, but it wouldn't affect the outcome as it's a systemic cancer.

We have to decide whether to try 2nd line chemo or not. doc is not at all encouraging about it, but I am scared to give up at this point. I believe in fighting it out... Would there be any benefit to trying it even for 1 or 2 cycles, to see if it at least shocks the system and potentially benefits?

I would appreciate any advice you could give based on your exepriences.
Thank you