Stage 3 lung cancer treatment

I'm so sorry that your husband has lung cancer. My husband also had lung cancer. He never had the radiation treatment but he had chemotherapy and Keytruda. He reacted badly to both and as a result refused treatment of any kind. He lived 14 years with Stage 4 lung cancer. However that doesn't mean that your husband would react badly to cancer treatment. We are all different. However, what really helped us was to read the side effects of the treatments. That way you know what you are dealing with. You can get that information easily on the Mayo Clinic website. Also keep in mind that these treatments are often very expensive and you might want to discuss this with your insurance. The Keytruda treatment that my husband got cost $25,000 per infusion.

There were two things that really helped my husband a lot. One was eating good quality red meat. He loved steak and that protein helped his body fight the cancer. The other was prayer. We prayed together daily and God was there for us. We were fortunate to have those wonderful 14 years together before he died in 2024. With God you can get through anything!

I'll say a prayer for the both of you.
I wish you the best.
PML

Following to learn more about proton therapy. My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer 2 years ago. ERBB2 w/Exon 20 (HER2).
He had Keytruda, then Enhertu, then Hernexeos (Zongertinib). He recently had to get whole brain radiation and is undergoing chemo, the bad kind (docetraxel) due to recurring brain mets and bone mets. Everything else cleared with the Zongertinib, finally, except for bone & brain.

@pml
Thank you sooo much for your quick reply. It is very helpful as we are about to navigate into treatment. Your words really helped. Side effects will be a big deal. I will learn as much as I can. Thank you again for the good advice and prayer. Hugs.

@fightingbluehen69
Thank you also for your quick response. Your husband sounds tough! What a journey this is. How are you doing? Thanks for your support this early in our treatment.

I was diagnosed with stage 3C NSC lung cancer in 2023. I spent 4 months on Tagrisso that significantly reduced the cancer and qualified me for surgery. I had a lobectomy but there was still cancer in the margins which had also morphed into SC lung cancer. A month later I started 6 weeks of daily proton therapy (5days /wk) and concurrent chemo (3 rounds, 3 days on, 3 weeks off). Side effects mild nausea, significant fatigue, difficulty swallowing, bad sunburn inside and out. Overall it was better than I expected. Recovery took a year. There is no evidence of disease currently after nearly 2 years. Be encouraged. I am thankful to God for his goodness through it all.

Thank you for your reply. I am presently babysitting grandkids.....will say more later. What you said was very helpful for us!! Thank you again.

I an Stage IIIA NSCLC and, due to the poor condition of my lungs, my surgeon didn't want to perform surgery because it would have left me with significantly reduced lung capacity. So, I went through with concurrent chemo and proton radiation therapies. I am at the tail end of recovery from the combo therapies and am happy that I went through it. I am dealing with Pneumonitis as a result of the radiation but am treating it with Prednisone which is working well at reducing the dry cough and shortness of breath,
So, Would I do it again? YOU BET!

Thank you for your response. We start the combo proton radiation and chemo on Monday for 6 weeks. My husband doesn't have the best appetite so I am hoping he does okay. The doc said esoghagitis might get bad towards the end of the treatment. Your words are encouraging. Thank you!