Lung cancer

Dear Skybangles23e400,

Thank you for getting in touch with us, and welcome to our online community. My name is Annerose I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurses here at the Macmillan Cancer Support line.

I am so sorry to hear about your brother’s diagnosis and that he is struggling recently. It’s natural to be feeling a bit lost at this time, especially as this is all new to you. It can be a difficult and emotional time for you, your brother and the family.  

If you are worried about your brother, please reach out to his hospital team, or NHS111, update them on his worsening symptoms and get their advice on how they can support him.

Any new, changing or worsening symptoms should always be assessed quickly so the healthcare team can help to manage them. 

Pain is a common symptom in people with advanced cancer, but this is something the hospital team, your brothers GP or the palliative care team should be trying to manage. If you feel like your brother is not reaching out, you can contact the team or the GP to explain your concerns. They may not be able to discuss things with you due to confidentiality, but they will act on your note of concern and should get in touch with your brother to discuss things further.

I mentioned the palliative care team above, as they might already be involved in your brother’s care. If not, it would definitely be worth if your brother asked his GP or the hospital team about doing a referral to them.

Our information on care and support includes some information about palliative care that you may find useful. The palliative care team gives specialist information and supportive care to people facing serious illness. This includes symptom control and advance care planning as well as help with emotional and spiritual support. Their nurses work hand in hand with the GP and are there to help manage any symptoms such as pain.  They are often linked in with the local hospice and work with a team of allied healthcare professionals and can see patients in hospital, in their own home, and in outpatient clinics.

When a referral is made, the form is normally triaged, and the team would then make initial contact with your brother to arrange a visit. This can sometimes take a few weeks. 

I understand you are concerned about what to expect when your brother becomes less well. As people become less well and need more care, there are different support services available to them.  Within the community, medical care is provided by a variety of people, the local palliative care team is part of this, but also the GP and district nursing team, who provide nursing care as necessary. 

How to access services is variable across the country, if you brother feels he would benefit from more support at home he can discuss this with his team or the GP who can arrange for him to have a care needs or continuing health care assessment This involves assessing what support he requires both at this time and also going into the future.  

I hope this has been helpful. I recognise that this is a lot of information, please don’t hesitate to get back in touch if you need any further information or support. 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 send us an email. 

Best wishes and take care 

Annerose (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist) 

Ref/ AM/ PN