My mum passed away recently. She had breast cancer like me. She was 73 and had chemo then went onto EC and completed one. Sadly she passed not long after this with a pulmonary embolism in her lung. She had a chest X-ray which was clear although she had pneumonia (according to the autopsy) and a recent blood transfusion. I just don’t understand why this happened? She complained of chest pain dizziness and was sick a lot. I blame myself because I should have helped or saved her.
Hi Valeries,
Thank you for getting in touch with us and welcome to our online community. I hope you find it a helpful and supportive place.
I am so sorry to hear that your mum passed away recently. Please accept our heart felt condolences.
The first thing I want to say is that this is not your fault. It’s not something you could have predicted or prevented so please do not blame yourself.
Cancer and some cancer treatments can increase the risk of a blood clot. EC chemotherapy is one of the treatments that has an increased risk of blood clots such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). When part of the clot breaks away, it can travel to the lungs causing a pulmonary embolism (PE). Although we try to make people aware of the signs and symptoms of a blood clot, so they can have treatment such as blood thinners as soon as possible, the symptoms can mimic other things such as a chest infection or cardiac problem. This may be why your mum had a chest x-ray, to look for signs of infection.
A PE can cause sudden collapse and as in your mum’s case, cause her to pass away quite quickly.
That being said, no explanation can help with the grief you are feeling right now but I do hope this helps you realise that this was not your fault. Having had chemotherapy yourself, you know that it can cause side-effects such as sickness and these side-effects differ in severity from person to person. Your mum’s team would have assessed the symptoms she was experiencing, hence the x-ray but unfortunately weren’t able to diagnose the PE in time.
It might be helpful to speak to her hospital team about what happened. Ask them to go over everything with you, so you have a better understanding about what happened.
It may also be helpful to reach out to Cruse Bereavement Support. They are a fantastic charity who may be able to help you understand your grief and help you to work through it. We also have a very supportive bereaved family and friends forum which is an online support group for anyone who has lost a family member or loved one to cancer to share their feelings and support one another.
Please know that you can also give us a call to talk things through. I promise it can help and also gives you the opportunity to ask any questions that may arise. We are here 7 days a week, from 8am to 8pm (including Christmas and bank holidays) and it’s free to call from landlines and most mobile phones.
Please take care of yourself.
Best wishes,
Adrienne
Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
Macmillan Cancer Support
Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. If you think it may be useful to chat things over in real time, we have our webchat service available 7 days a week 8am-8pm.
Ref: AMc/AW
