My dads diagnosis

Hello Hells7070,

Thanks for getting in touch and welcome to our Online Community.

I’m Elise, one of the cancer information nurses on the support line.

We’re sorry to read about your dad’s diagnosis and can only imagine how difficult this is for you and your family.

The rollercoaster of emotions you’re experiencing right now are not uncommon. Many people describe feeling overwhelmed and that they experience episodes of profound sadness alongside times of feeling a bit more in control.

The impact of a cancer diagnosis is not only affecting your dad but everyone who cares about him and it’s important to acknowledge that.

It’s important that you find a support network so that you can talk about how you’re feeling. Please don’t feel you have to put on a “brave face” every day.

This support might be family and friends or services like the Macmillan support line or our online community which has a family and friends forum .

The Online Community is a supportive space to share your experience with other people who will understand what you’re going through.

You can also use Macmillan’s In Your Area search engine or the Cancer Care Map to look for local support services.

You mention that your dad is in a lot of pain, and we would expect this to be assessed by his hospital doctors and nurses if he is attending for treatment.

Please encourage your dad to be open and honest about the level of pain he’s in so that it can be better managed.

He many also benefit from the support of his local palliative care team who will also be able to look at ways to manage this pain. His GP, hospital doctor or a nurse specialist will be able to make this referral for him.
Specialist palliative care support can be accessed even during treatment for an advanced cancer and it’s important to remember that palliative care is not the same as end-of-life care.

Palliative care is much broader and can last a lot longer.

Your main question was around your dad’s prognosis and it’s understandable that you want to know more about this.

It’s sounds as if you’ve been looking at some statistics around Stage 4 lung cancer and while they will give you a general indication of what can happen, they can’t give you specific information about your dad.

We know this is a scary time and that you want to prepare yourself emotionally.

As nurses on this type of platform we can’t see him face to face so unfortunately we can’t give you an indication of his prognosis but what we can share is some information around what some of the signs are as someone approaches the end of their life.
We know it can be upsetting to read this, so please click on the links only when you feel ready.

This information can be helpful to some families so that they feel a bit more prepared.

The Macmillan website has a section called “End of life” and in there we have sections talking about the last few weeks of life and the last few days of life.

Marie Curie also has information on the last few weeks and days of life.

We know this is a difficult time for you and if you want to talk in a bit more detail, you’re very welcome to call the Macmillan Support Line.

Best wishes

Elise

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

 You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or email us. 

Ref:EMcP