The news was bad. The tumours had not responded, not even a partial remission. So everything we had read about small cell lung cancer (SCLC) was true - it's aggressive, chemotherapy is only palliative, prognosis 6-8 months. A horrific diagnosis. We put a brave face on it, attended all the oncologist appointments, listened to the registrar telling us the obvious, encouraged Mom to have all the chemo. We did everything we had to, we did our part, we put our hearts and souls into living with Mom's cancer.
The oncologist said there was another chemo regime to try. Mom had already had 6 cycles of EP (etoposide and cisplatin) over 18 weeks from Christmas to Easter, and she was still alive. Without it, she would not have made it to Dad's birthday in February. So we said OK, we'll give CAV* a go, how bad could it be...
(* C = Cyclophosphamide A = Doxorubicin (also called Adriamycin) V = Vincristine
Cancer Research)
(* C = Cyclophosphamide A = Doxorubicin (also called Adriamycin) V = Vincristine
Cancer Research)
It was awful, Mom was sick all the time, getting weaker and weaker, and by mid-June we knew the game was up. The oncologist withdrew treatment and gently suggested we 'get the Macmillans involved'.
Actually, we already had the Macmillans involved. Mom's GP practice had set this up in January, via the District Nurse service. Our local facility was the Beacon Service.