I wish I knew what to tell you. My father passed away about 10 years ago from non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
The cancer was really aggressive especially when they withheld a chemo treatment due to "heart problems". Turned out the "heart problems" was caused by the cancer being aggressive. A senior resident removed fluid from his lung and punctured his lung in the process and didn't tell us. Furthermore, they failed to turn on oxygen after the procedure. He lapsed into a coma and the respirator was disconnected a few days later.
We thought he was doing well also. I think the doctors failed to alert us to the seriousness of the disease and we failed to keep an eye on the hospital staff.
I'll tell you two things: While he is being treated by a cancer doc. Call that doctor and no one else when something needs evaluating.
If hospitalized, keep a close eye on the hospital. Ask what they are doing and going to do.
If there is a doubt about treatment have an autopsy. We didn't. You get "He was going to die anyway" when you don't.
I do think there has been advances. The earlier it was caught, the better chance you have. In our case, it could have been caught earlier. A faint spot on an x-ray wasn't investigated.
I wish I could be more helpful. I know first hand what you are going through.
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