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Avatar universal

stage 4 nsclc and bone question

I have been reading so much on this site and others and just had a thought.  My M-I-Law has stage 4 NSCLC spread to the adrenal glands and liver but they never checked to see if it had gone into the bones.  She  has just complained today of needing her knee/leg rubbed when she woke from her sleep.

Is it also possible to go into the bone and not know it.  She has not been seen by the oncologist since Feb 08 when she turned treatment down so we really don't have a clue how things progress. Family doctor was by 4 weeks ago and said things were okay.  He wont't be by again until we call for another round of pills (hycodan so far).

Is it okay to give her the hycodan every 4 hours and a codine cough supressant in between that to help with the cough?

Always looking for information to help us out.
Jan825
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Avatar universal
Thank you - we will watch for this and speak to the doctor when he comes.  I will let you know what he says
Jan825

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Avatar universal
Hi,

If the motion sickness is something new, then this raises some questions about brain involvement. While it is important to respect her decision to not go for further treatment, perhaps a brief discussion on “what to watch for and what to do” needs to be done. Some of the issues to be discussed would be seizures and risks for falls.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for your help.  I understand not testing further when she won't accept help - yes it was chemo to help reduce symptoms.  Now she gets so sick with motion in a car we can't get her out if we wanted to. We are fortunate the Doctor comes to the house for us.  We will talk to him about something for her discomfort when he comes.

I was uncertain about combining the two drugs because of the strict use for hycodan that I have been reading.  She needs something else besides just the hycodan because the cough get so persistant and she still has hours before she can take more.  Is there something else we could ask the doctor for to give her some relief?

Thank you again
Jan
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Avatar universal
Hi,

You are correct. Lung cancer can also involve bone.

For staging in general, if there is already proof of metastatic disease (in this case the presence of cancer in the liver and adrenals), some doctors would opt to limit other tests when symptoms do not dictate. Hence, I would assume that she presented without any bone pain during the initial staging. This is a practical thing to do, as the treatment recommendations are unlikely to change if there is bone metastasis found on a bone scan.

The description you gave on the knee seems more like arthritis. Bone pain involving non-articular areas, or involving the shafts more than the joints would speak more of cancer.

The hycodan and the codeine are doing the same function, so I don’t think it would make any difference to combine them.

Even if she turned down treatment (which I am assuming was chemotherapy), then it would still be a good idea to discuss pain medications with her doctor.
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