George,

I'm sorry to hear what your brother went through, and what it has meant to your family. I also agree with you that pain signals should not be ignored -- however, I would not want people to assume that pain is automatically an indication that the cancer has spread to a terminal state. I was also a non-smoker and experienced around-the-clock pain in the months leading up to my diagnosis, but my tumor turned out to be Stage II and it had not spread to surrounding lymph nodes. It was treated with surgery and radiation, and it has not returned in almost 16 years.

Cathy