June 2, 2025

Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and brain metastasis on April 30th. In some ways, I'm still stuck in that day. what I thought was a casual doctor's appointment, changed everything.

Dr. Mener showed us the PET scan of her lungs and chest. A tumor the size of a ping pong ball in her left lung with spots up her chest. A fractured rib. And then "talk" of "many" measurable lesions around her brain - the cause of her visit to her primary care doctor. The brain MRI showed this the week prior. Still nobody could say how long she has to live. Too much was left for interpretation. Dr. Mener pushed for more scans, a lung biopsy, therapies - whole brain radiation, 2 chemotherapies, and immunotherapy. There is a possibility to try a clinical trial drug. Aggressive. Still no would tell us what we wanted to know.

After Googling all of this for some sort of translation into what we care about we learned:

  • Any metastatic cancer is considered stage IV,
  • Brain cancer is dangerous if there are multiple parts impacted,
  • Whole brain radiation therapy without hippocampal sparing will lead to rapid cognitive decline,
  • Chemotherapy will make you weak, loss of appetite, and (more) weight loss,
  • Immunotherapy will make you highly susceptible to infections, organ failure.
What we already know:

  • Mom can't taste much of anything,
  • She had barely any appetite,
  • Has lost 25 lbs in a month,
  • Losing hair rapidly,
  • Weakness in her body,
  • Terrible headaches (edema from brain tumors),
  • At high risk of seizures,
  • Can't drive,
  • Can't live alone.

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