Help on what to expect for lung cancer caregiver

Posted by environmom @environmom, Dec 28, 2023

My mother was diagnosed a year ago with adenocarcinoma stage IV. We thought last Christmas would be her last, but here we are again. She is 88 and was in good health. Her oncologist, without ever seeing her, said chemo or radiation were not options. He offered Keytruda. He also is not an M.D., but a D.O.. Not sure that matters. Anyway, mom would rather not ask questions about her future. She has no pain, just occasional shortness of breath. But she is not wanting to eat much. She keeps losing weight, nothing is appetizing to her. Is this from the cancer or maybe a side effect of the Keytruda?
Has anyone been through this that is willing to share their experience? I want to help her but not sure how. She gets a PET scan every 3 months. The cancer is slowly growing. Her labs are all good except she has what she calls a “lazy kidney” she was told. Due to media and her brother’s experience with chemo, she has always been against it. She large family has lived well into their 90s, and I feel if she had a different doctor, maybe chemo would have been beneficial to her but now she is against it and her doctor says she is not a candidate, so Keytruda is all she gets.
She is losing weight, has little energy.
How can I find out what to expect?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Cancer Support Group.

@leggs1

My name is Jennifer. I am a nurse and still know little about cancer. I have stage 3b adenocarcinoma. This website provides information on your moms type and stage of lung cancer. There is also Google-I have found a wealth of knowledge about drug treatment and symptoms.
Prayers for you and your mom 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

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@leggs1, welcome to Mayo Connect. Being a nurse, I’m sure you know how to find reputable sites for medical information. I try to stick with Mayo or other well known medical institutions, or government research sites. There are many different types of adenocarcinoma with even more treatments. Have you received any additional information on the type of adenocarcinoma?

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@environmom, how is your mom doing? How are you doing?

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