Lung cancer and dementia

courtney12 1 year ago

1 reply

My grandma has recently had a fall, when taken into hospital she was diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis, following an abnormal result from the chest X-ray she then had a CT scan which revealed a 8cm tumour on her lungs, the specialist would not accept her consent for a camera into her lungs to determine which form of cancer it is due to her mental capacity. Fourth to this diagnosis she has since had a diagnosis of mixed dementia (tests were ongoing before the fall), we’re do I stand with treatment going forward. We can’t get a prognosis of the cancer without the camera. Her discharge notes have also revealed one of her lungs has partially collapsed and it has spread to her pancreas. We have not been made aware of this by an medical person apart from seeing it in her notes

Hannah11 1 year ago

Hi Courtney12,

Welcome to the Marie Curie Online Community. Thank you for sharing your experience with us here and we hope others will do the same with you. 

I'm sorry to hear about your grandma and all that you are experiencing with her health issues. Any questions regarding treatment would be best answered by the healthcare professionals involved in your grandma's care. This could be the consultant at the hospital or even the GP may be able to share some more information. 

On the Marie Curie Support Line, we do have Palliative Care Nurses that are able to answer general questions around palliative care if you find yourself wanting to talk to someone about it. They can be contacted on 0800 090 2309.

Please don't hesitate to reach out for support again. 

Take care,

Hannah - Support Line Officer.