lung cancer treatment

[shaffer2124]

in November of last year, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. The cancer was already visibly in the lymph nodes and she also felt a tumor developing in her leg. She has non small cell adenocarcinoma. Which basically means it is in the glands. The doctor told my mom who was in stage 4 cancer that she should consider treatment because she could live up to 5 years. She had to think about it because she did not have insurance and the house is all she had to leave me, which was in her name until right now, and it is mine from an inheritance left to me from my father 20 years ago, it was in her name so that she had a place to reside until her death. She did not want treatment because she could not afford medical bills, but the doctor convinced her to try a newer chemotherapy which was so strong that she had to be hospitalized for each chemo and it was only administered once every three weeks. she had basically zero follow up care between treatments. The docotr as I find out also failed to order nessacary exams to properly detect how far the cancer had spread, and that cancer patients in stage 4 do not live up to 5 years. I feel she was used as a lab rat. She had to ask him to stop the treatment that took every bit of life she had left out of her because she felt new tumors developing that he failed to even test her for. He told my mom he was sorry for not properly examing her, but he has 18 patients in a day and it just happened. So I feel she was cheated of the last good months she had, lied to, and treated like a rabbit that they use for testing. Do I have a case to sue. I am not so concerned with the money, but furious that we now have medical bills because he used her as a guiney pig. And I do not have the money to pay the bills that are coming from the hospital. Further more about a month ago we rushed to the hospital because her heart almost gave out, the docotr kept insisting that we take her home while the attending doctors said no way. My sister called to ask him why he wanted he to go home he said so she could die at home with us. Two weeks later my mom called to ask him if now she did not have a doctor, he said oh of course and started chemotherapy again. I spoke to him a few days ago because he gave my mom meds that can not mix, he said he was in disagreement with the chemo and that he was only giving it to her because she asked for it. I told my mom what he said, she asked him and he denied that he ever said it and told her i said things that i never said, furthermore he told he chemo was working and she should keep going. My question now is what the hell, are we allowed to tell docotrs to give us treatment that arre harming us instead of helping us. I mean the cancer has consumed her body and she is in severe pain, and she shakes now from the nerves which i can only imagine and have read that chemo aggitates this. Is it not that docotrs are supposed to improve quality of life not increase suffering?

 

[vrzirn]

This situation was discussed in your thread of 1/10/02 in this forum. You also asked about having your mother gift the house to you in another forum and wondered about the tax consequences.
There is plenty of blame to spread around for both the financial and medical aspects of the current problem.
Stage 4 cancer is terminal and your mother made an informed decision to enter what sounds like a "trial" of non-approved drugs. I am sure you had ample opportunity to discuss this with her before she began the protocol. Even if not a "trial", she was desperate enough to think it worth the slim chance of recovery it offered.
Most definitely, it is not the fault of the doctors. And ,"No!", you still do not have any viable cause for a lawsuit. Ask the senator from the state of Florida what happened to it's share of the settlement money from big MO and other tobacco companies. Ask if they already sold off the rights for 25 years in the form of A+ rated bonds. Ask if the money went to fix holes in the budget. Ask if even 5% of the settlement went for health care. Ask your mother why she spent the money on cigarettes instead of buying Phillip Morris stock. She would be a multi-millionaire if she had.
Down off the soap-box.

 

[shaffer2124]

help me out

she was not given anything experimental she was given what is the secondary form of chemotherapy when the first one fails. Why i am so confused is how can they start with the secondary and tell the patient that they can live up to five years when it is a lie. And further more the doctor has told my aunt and I that we need to pray for my mother to go in her sleep because he will keep treating her as long as she wants. To me it is pointless but he has not told her that she is going to die soon, he told us. When we tried to tell her that he said the treatment was against his better judgement we told her so she did not have to go through this agonizing treatment, she called and asked him he said he never said a thing to us and he said we said what he actually said, plus i find out now he has told another doctor who knows my mom how bad she is and our whole church now knows. BUT SHE STILL DOES NOT! I read in the patient bill of rights that everything between them the patient and doctor unless she gives permission, so why does everyone get to know but her?

 

[vrzirn]

It is called, "denial". Deep in her heart, she knows. She has known for a long time.
Forget the whys and wherefores and give her comfort. Hope she dies peacefully.