I just found out that my mother may have lung cancer, Do you have any good advice?

While there is hope for recovery, focus on her care and keep her optimistic. If this hope fades, make her life as comfortable as possible. During this difficult time, make sure you form good memories with her – either you will look back on them together with fondness, or you will be making her final days the best they can be. Above all else, make sure you have no regrets.

A good question to start with is “what happens next?”

If you can, go with her to appointments and be her advocate – ask her what she wants and represent her wishes. Make notes of conversations with doctors (record them if possible) so that you can come back to them later. Make lists of questions you want to ask and make sure you get the answers. Read as much about it as possible so that you can help her make informed choices about treatment and care.

Hope this helps and I wish you all the best

Listen t her feelings. Don’t burden her with yours. She is dealing with enough. Get your support from outside the family.

A friend of mine was diagnosed with Lung Cancer 3 years ago. They were told they had 5 months to live.
He died a couple months ago, from a heart attack. He beat the doctors by 2½ years, and even then didn’t die from it.
The doctors don’t know everything. Fight this, and you can win!

Thanks for the advice you guys. I had to asked because with this recent information I feel like it jammed my brain and I need to read all this to organize my thoughts. Thanks @Stinley about writing a list of questions, and recording or taking notes during visits. Will do. Thanks @marinelife, for me it’s hard to figure what my mom is thinking, she always acts strong. I think I seem more scared than her. I need to talk to her about her thoughts and feelings. Today I’m also going to look for a psychologist for outside help. I’m still going through the trama of losing my father and I want to stay strong.Thank you @filmfann, I like the “you can win”. thanks @FireMadeFlesh for the no regrets.
My mother had when she was old. She just turned 70. Her age scares me.

If your mom is still in good enough shape to travel, a visit to MD Anderson Cancer Center in TX or Memorial Sloan Kettering in NY may be a good start. There are many emerging therapies in lung cancer currently being studied based on a patient’s tumor genetic abnormality. This is called personalized medicine. The researchers can test a tumor, and choose the therapy based on the genetic abnormality driving the tumor’s growth.

If you can’t make it to TX or NY, I would ask the pathologist to request a lung cancer assay on your mom’s tumor. There are many labs performing these assays. Once you have the results, you can do searches on clinical trials.gov to see if there is any research on a particular mutation found on the assay. The research centers are treating lung cancer much differently from regular community practices. I hope this info helps you and I wish your mother the best.

Be with her.

Do as many of the little things around the house for her that you can. Make her dinner. Go grocery shopping. Do the laundry. Wash the dishes. Clean the house. Drive her to and from doctor and treatment appointments.

Something to keep in mind is that if she is diagnosed, she knows that she has cancer. When my mother had cancer, all she wanted to do was talk about it, but no one wanted to talk about it with her. If she wants to talk about it, you talk about it. Also, be prepared for very dark humor that you may not find funny.

Cancer is no longer a death sentence.

Hospice is an excellent resource, not just for the worst case scenario but just for their experience with dealing with this. Don’t hesitate to contact them.

Don’t jump the gun. Wait for teh biopsy and ask what stage it is. Ask the doctor to explain what the different stages mean. If she is diagnosed early enough, her chances for recovery are good. Don’t freak out until you know exactly what you’re dealing with.

I agree with @Judi – the more you know about where and how widespread the cancer is, the better decisions you’ll make about tx options. Take your mother’s feelings into consideration when deciding on next steps even if they seem like the wrong ones, because she has to have primary agency. If you need to talk I work for the American Cancer Society and you can PM me, I can provide services nationally.

Lots and lots of good information here.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lungcancer.html

My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer 5 years ago. Because of other health problems, they were unable to do a biopsy but were able to pinpoint the area and used radiation therapy to treat her. This was 5 years ago and she had to have 30 treatments, one right after the other, but it worked, the cancer was zapped by the radiation. Two years after that she was diagnosed with another cancerous spot on her other lung. Two years and many strides made in the treatment of cancer, she only needed five treatments and the cancer was once again zapped. My mom died this year of heart disease. Be there for your mom and if she wants to talk about it, then let her, no matter if you are up to hearing about it. At this point, it’s about her. {{hugs}}

Thank you guys for all your answers :)