HH,

I'm under the impression that in a case where you are making a decision about whether to have treatments like Erbitux which would, at best, give you a little more time, the decision is yours (in this case your mom's) and the chemo docs should be telling you both the plusses and minuses.

Two months of increased life is an AVERAGE. The side effects that happen are also for the AVERAGE person. This means your mom could take Erbitux, it could make her feel really awful, and she could only gain a week or two OR she cold take it with few side effects and gain 6 months. It's a gamble, and it depends on what she wants. If she doesn't want to fight anymore and the risk of being made sick by chemo doesn't seem to be worth two additional months of life, she shouldn't have it. But for some people the risk might be worth it.

It is really her decision. The doctor may have sounded discouraging because he didn't want to create unreal expectations but I know at least one woman, an acquaintance of mine, who fought stomach cancer for a couple of years before dying from it by having exactly those treatments that were only supposed to give a couple of months (in her case, they gave her longer and I think she treasured that time and it may have allowed her to die more peacefully).

Nelie