What should I expect with low dose chemo and radiation?

Sorry hear about your diagnosis, I was diagnosed with stage 2 borderline 3 cancer, because I had a 3 cm nodule and another 6mm mm in next to it, I did 6 weeks of low dose chemo, taxol and carboplaten and 30 rounds of radiation, I had minimal side effects from the chemo, Im male, I expected all my hair to fall out, but it didn't, but I did start shedding hair around me 5th incision and it got much thinning and whiter, I'm 61 years old, I didn't really have any did effects from the radiation, and the treatment shrunk the 3 cm nodule to around 9 mm and the 6mm was gone in a few weeks, I just had a PET scan and there is no uptake, which means no sign of cancer, I did however start immune therapy, Imfizi and have experienced shortness of breath and fatigue, as well as some gastric issue, because it amps up your immune system into overdrive, and sometimes causes inflation.. good luck..I will pray for a good put for you on your journey.

I actually think some of my sympathy improved for the chemo, because of the steroids they give you with it, who migrate help if you had some lung damage from the immuno..I guess everyone's is different and of Co everyone by fears going into this, based on hearing stories and assume the word, but it wasn't as bad as I expected and was able to work during my treatments.

@caryjay Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it. I am staged at 2B myself. I was a candidate for surgery to remove the 4 cm mass but should look at treatment prior to move it away from my rib. However because I didnt want HIGH dose chemo with the immunotherapy, I changed cancer centers to one that told me that treatment with a combo, recently approved of 2 immunotherapies would work. It turns out it was NOT approved for stages below 4. Therefore just one round damaged my lungs to the point that I am no longer able to have surgery unless I want a 50% chance of being on a vent after surgery. The mass is now at 6mm. I am meeting with radiology oncology on the 17th. Hope this works. So happy that it was able to kill yours. Blessing.

I am surprised that they started with immuno therapy, as far as I know that is mostly used to keep the cancer from coming back, once they have treated it with other methods, i am actually surprised that they even recommend chemo, because the mass is small, considering I know people that have other cancer with tumor as big as golf balls or base balls. I do know people that have just been treated with radiation for lung cancer that small.. but I'm not a doctor and I suppose it depends on the area and type of cancer...I have COPD and low lung function and the particular area in the lung, I was not a candidate for surgery..I also wanted to say surgical removal of part of your lung is no guarantee, that the cancer doesn't return or metastases down the line..I think you will be okay with the low dose chemo and the radiation and hopefully it kills the cancer.. they have made alot of advances in lung cancer treatment in the last several years as compared to the 70s and 80s.

Sorry I had several errors in my typing, from auto suggest on my phone, I didn't proofread beg I sent.

@sharonsturdivan, typically, a low-dose CAT scan is used during screening. My cyst was in my right upper lobe and was 2.9cm- or so we thought. Once it was surgically removed using the da Vinci 2 robot, it measured 3cm, plus we learned the cancer had spread to a nearby lymph node. So I was stage 2b. Because the cut line stained positive, I had 33 rounds of radiation to my chest. Because the cancer had spread to a lymph node, I had four rounds of Carboplatin/Alimta. I was 58 years young at the time and never stopped working. I was tired for 2-3 days after the chemo/radiation treatments, but that was it. I did chemo and radiation simultaneously. My doctors gave me a vitamin B12 shot before and after the chemo treatments, and I took Folic acid during because of the Alimta.

The cancer did metastasize to my brain, but chemo doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, so that's not surprising. I've never had a recurrence below my neck during the six and a half years since I finished chemo/radiation.

Combining chemo and radiation is the most agressive treatment available. It can be debilitating but the long term outcome makes it worthwhile. There is a synergistic effect, the chemo kind of softens up the DNA so the radiation can smash it and the radiation weakens the DNA so the chemo can do its job.

I'm very surprised to learn that you were given the two immunotherapy treatment and downright shocked that your insurance company didn't deny the treatment.