My mom (73) was diagnosed with stage 4 NSCLC, adenosquamous EGFR exon 19 deletion on April 1.
Unfortunately she was misdiagnosed with a form of arthritis and that allowed her cancer to destroy her spine. She has already had her C5 vertebrae removed and replaced and her T8, T10, and T12 cemented together (the doctor said they were in 20-30 pieces).
The pain has been incredible and she’s been unable to get out of bed. Unfortunately she can’t have too many opioids without getting delirium. In her painful yet lucid moments, she is very clear she never wants to do this again. And she has made me promise she won’t have to.
The plan is post-surgical radiation then Tagrisso. I’m hoping this helps her with pain and she can regain her ability to walk.
I’m hoping she gets a few good years. But I don’t want her to go through this again. I want to know, if it comes back, will it attack her spine again?
If it comes back to her spine, I will want to arrange a compassionate exit plan for her. Does anyone know anything about this? I know assisted suicide can take years to access so I don’t know if we should start now.