i have been diagnosed with lung cancer but not given any prognosis! why?

Question

i also have copd, pulmonary fibrosis and mitral valve disease with no prognosis other than the fact that pulmonary fibrosis is a killer

Answer 1

Hiya Ian, firstly I'm so sorry 2 hear this, i can and do understand just how you must be feeling as i lost someone i loved very much to lung cancer last year. However it isn't always bad news and although you also have other serious health issues the most important thing is for you to be told all your options and to have the best quality of life. No one can predict how long we have, so try and live each day to the full, i hope you have plenty of support around you and my thoughts and prayers are with you. take care x

Answer 2

Estimating how much time a cancer patient has left is a very difficult thing to do. The answer is it depends on the patient.

It is hard to predict how well patients will respond to treatment.

Many doctors will talk about the "average" time that lung cancer patients at a stage of disease can expect to survive. However, you need to keep in mind that this is an average and that some people may or may not live longer.

It is also a very difficult subject emotionally, which may be another reason why your doctor hasn't given you the information.

Answer 3

Hi Ian H

If you were my husband, dad or brother, the first thing I'd make sure you did was to get your Vitamin D up to lifeguard level. Lifeguards demonstrate what a truly optimal Vitamin D status can be. You can't overdose on sunshine-induced Vitamin D. The body has a mechanism for destroying what it can't use.

Studies are showing that Vitamin D prevents cancer and may also be useful in treating it.

We got scared out of the sun in the early 90s and nobody told us to make sure we kept our Vitamin D at optimal levels. Now we're learning about all the diseases that are related to D deficiency---cancer, chief among them.

So get your Vitamin D tested. For the proper test and reference range:
http://www.mercola.com/2002/feb/23/vitamin_d_deficiency.htm

Get out in the sun every day without sunscreen, but don't burn. If you're not very light-skinned you'll need more exposure. Take off as many clothes as possible.

At the end of the summer (or perhaps right away if you can't get out several times a week) you'll probably need to supplement. Experts recommend from 1000-4000 IU of D3/day.

Becoming Vitamin D replete (opposite of depleted) may significantly improve your chances for recovery.

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2006/mar2006_report_vitamind_01.htm

Best of luck to you!

Answer 4

Your MD should give you some kind of prognosis, especially if you ask for it. I wouldn't expect too rosy a picture, since those are all very serious illnesses. You never know though, some people far outlive their expected diagnosis. My Dad was supposed to die of colon cancer in 1984, and he is still alive and well now at 82! He (and I when I had lymphoma in 2000) went to a very well known alternative cancer clinic in Freeport, Grand Bahamas called IAT center. Check them out online at iatclinic.com or immunemedicine.com. They are excellent and do great work. They also have quite a lot of success with lung cancers. Best, David.

Answer 5

with all those respiratory problems you likely haven't been given a prognosis because there isn't one. They cannot predict the exact hour of your death, but I hope you have your affairs in order, for the sake of your loved ones.

Answer 6

im really sorry to hear that. they may not how far along you are with the disease until further testing. good luck and keep faith! god bless

Answer 7

Your oncologist will review your tests and records carefully and advise you on your next course.