<s>[INST] My mom has 3b non small cell lung cancer. a doctor talked to us about chalking or using talc to treat her the next time she has to have a thoracentisis done. another said he didn t know what that meant. what do I do next for my mom to see that she gets the best available treatment. she is doing chemo every 3 weeks. and she is not sleeping well even though he gave her xanax your advice please? [/INST] Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. By your history I think your mother has recurrent pleural effusion due to malignant spread in pleura. Since this is incurable disease, we need to give palliative treatment. For recurrent malignant pleural effusion the best option is pleurodesis.  This means iatrogenic adhesion of pleural layers and thus obliteration of pleural space.  So that accumulation of fluid is not possible. For this you need to consult pulmonologist and get done thoracoscopy and removal of all fluid. Then talc powder is sprayed on surface. This will cause intense inflammatory reaction and cause fibrosis and pleural adhesion. Thus, space can be obliterated. So consult pulmonologist and discuss all these. </s>