Good day, I am new here, please forgive me if I am using this forum wrong.
I am Feea, my dear uncle, who lives in Europe, I live in Canada, is going through cancer although he does not know it but severely suspects it.
In Europe they tend to 1st tell the wife/husband and have them decide how to "break" the news. In my Uncles case, they sent him home and decided not to tell him till his next appointment of Mri's etc...
Where we 1st believed he had a sever case of pneumonia, tests revealed he has lung cancer that has spread to his liver, this has happened in a matter of 2 weeks, he had been feeling unwell longer but refused to seek treatment. Today, we received the call from my aunt, he is bleeding anally, which we assume it has spread to his colon and beyond. It is not a matter of treatment but palliative treatment. My mother and her other brother are flying out to him tomorrow. Their mother (my grandmother), lives below them and has been in their care, she is 92 yrs old and in poor health, they are not planning on telling her since they fear she will die of a heart attack
Has anyone have had any loved ones survive this type of cancer?
I cannot imagine the pain my uncle must be in, but they are telling him or rather confirming his cancer to him once his siblings arrive in Athens.
I have no idea what time frame he has, is it weeks or months. I do know he did work with pesticides for many years and was a smoker. He is only 52 yrs old, the youngest of the family and the only main provider since the rest live abroad in Canada, Australia and USA.
Has anyone have had any positive treatments using holistic methods?
Thank you for your time.
Feea
Reply # - September 3, 2014, 05:55 AM
Hello Feea,
Hello Feea,
Welcome to GRACE. I am sorry to hear of your uncle's diagnosis. I know that for your family this is a difficult time, filled with uncertainty.
Once cancer has spread beyond the lung, all treatment is palliative, with the twin goals of extending life and improving the quality of that life. Although your uncle's situation seems critical at this point, the only way to hazard a guess as to his prognosis is to initiate systemic treatment (chemotherapy or targeted therapy) and see how he responds. That response will provide a better idea of how aggressive his cancer is and how well treatment can control it.
Although it is possible, lung cancer does not typically spread to the colon, and if scans did not show its presence there, it is unlikely that the bleeding is caused by cancer in his colon.
It may help to read Dr. Weiss' very thorough Introduction to Lung Cancer here: http://cancergrace.org/search-results?q=an%20introduction%20to%20lung%2… After doing so, please let us know what further questions you have.
JimC
Forum moderator
Reply # - September 7, 2014, 05:48 AM
Thank you so much for your
Thank you so much for your kind words, unfortunately he died on Thursday Sept 4th 2014.
2 weeks after he was diagnosed, he went to the hospital for tests, as soon as he entered, he flat lined, his heart just stopped.
It came, it is a shock, we thought we would have more time, how do you die 2 weeks after a diagnosis, while still living at home, while still awaiting all tests. It is heart breaking,
My grandmother, his mother did not even know he had cancer, she is 92 yrs old, he and his wife with kids took care of her, living in a duplex, now they told her and were worried for her health.
I want to thank you for providing such a wonderful site, I wish all families with loved ones still fighting, never give up.
Reply # - September 7, 2014, 08:20 AM
Hello feea,
Hello feea,
I am so sorry to hear of your uncle's passing. I can only imagine what a shock and heartbreak this is to you and your family. Please accept my sincere condolences.
Lung cancer varies greatly in terms of how quickly it can progress, at times with little warning as in your uncle's case. Please be reassured that when it is this aggressive, there is very little that can be done to slow it down. Though there have been some advances in treating lung cancer in recent years, there are still situations that are beyond the current abilities of medical science.
My wish is for peace and comfort for you and your family.
JimC
Forum moderator
Reply # - September 7, 2014, 10:41 AM
I'm so sorry. While your
I'm so sorry. While your uncle's case is tragic and his timeline very short, that is unusual but not as rare as we'd hope. Some people either have such an aggressive, fast-growing cancer that there is no time to start a plan. Other people may delay a workup for so long that the cancer essentially overtakes them completely.
My condolences to you and your family.
-Dr. West
Reply # - September 7, 2014, 09:52 PM
Dear Feeea
Dear Feeea
I am sad to learn of your uncle's passing. Sometimes the symptoms of cancer are so subtle that by the time they become evident it is too late to do anything. I am glad your mother and his brother were able to visit him. I know how difficult this will be for your grandmother.
Please accept my sincere condolences and hopes that your family can find peace.
Bob
Reply # - September 8, 2014, 07:01 AM
bobradinsky,
bobradinsky,
It must have been so hard to watch your Warrior Princess suffer so much, I am deeply sorry for your loss, there are never enough words or right ones to describe the pain the family goes through.
Thank you for your kind words....
Reply # - September 8, 2014, 07:13 AM
Thank you Dr.West
Thank you Dr.West
You must hear all different stories of how long or short people fight for their cancer.
I thought if you had lung cancer in one lung, that you can remove the one and live with only one, that you can cut the liver to the smallest piece and it grows back.
In my uncles case, is cancer metastasized so quickly, that after his results, within 2 weeks, it spread to colon and beyond, his breathing was painful and hard the night before, so the day he went to hospital for tests, he died within 5 minutes, his heart just stopped.
He suffered from Diabetes, had inserted a balloon next to his heart years ago to help with oxygen.
He worked the fields, spraying the land, pesticides were a huge cause in my opinion to his illness.
Anyhow, my beloved uncle was laid to rest yesterday, the silver lining being, he did not suffer.
When we lose someone to cancer, someone who has been fighting for years, they suffer, but the family has an easier way of accepting it since they have watched their loved ones suffer for so long, it hurts us but not in a shocking way. When they die within weeks of diagnosis, the do not suffer but we, left behind are more shocked at the quickness of the cancer spreading.
In the end, it is better for them to leave quicker and painless...