My mother in law was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal lung cancer last year in May of 2008 at the age of 81 a non smoker, prior to the diagnoses she began to lose weight, with in about 6 months she lost 25 pounds, suffered from shortness of breath. She complained of back pain and developed a persistent cough that never seemed to go away. The cough was not a harsh cough, sounded more like a cough to clear the lungs she had the cough for about three months before finally deciding to go to the doctor. She also coughed up blood which is a good indicator. She generally just did not feel well.
After several test chest x ray the doctor had seen some suspicious spot on the test and sent her for further test pet scan and cat scan and gave her a diagnosis of stage 4 terminal Lung cancer. She has been through 6 months of chemotherapy in sessions every two weeks for 8 hours at a time. She currently has cancer in her lungs, bones liver lymph nodes and neck.
Recap of symptoms she had before the diagnosis
Weight loss
Shortness of breath
Back pain
Persistent cough that did not go away
Spitting up blood
These were the only symptoms she exhibited
The facts of lung cancer
Many people who have never smoked get lung cancer approx 160,000 people die each year from lung cancer. The risk of getting lung cancer goes down once a person quits smoking however the risk. Lung cancer primarily occurs in senior citizen killing about thirty percent annually. Lung cancer kills more people each and every year more than breast, colon, liver and kidney cancers combined All thought the majority of people who get lung cancer have symptoms while one forth of the people diagnosed with lung cancer have no symptom at all. Lung cancers often spread to other parts of the body such as the liver which will generally show n signs, once the primary tumor in the lung has spread to the bone the person may experience bone pain. Lung cancers are the most lethal of all cancers the 5 year survival rate is around 15 percent. Most all lung cancer are diagnosed in late stages of the disease and have all ready metastasized to other parts of the body. If lung cancer is caught in the earlier stages before it has spread the survival rate is much better.
Most common symptoms of lung cancer may include
A persistent cough that does not go away
Shortness of breath
A sever back pain
Chest pain
Spitting up or coughing up blood
Swelling in the face or neck
Weight loss
Loss of appetite
Fatigue and weakness
Sources Seniorjournal Web Md Medicine net
Reference:
- www.associatedcontent.com/article/235037/should_you_get_screened_for_lung_cancer.html
- www.associatedcontent.com/article/161797/lung_cancer_new_diagnostic_tests.html?cat=70
- www.associatedcontent.com/article/581305/study_indicates_alternative_to_chemotherapy.
