My Nan (74 years) started to rapidly go down hill with her health a few weeks back. She started losing weight rapidly and started to struggle with her mobility. After a GP appointment showed her weight as 7st 5lbs. They referred her for blood tests the following day aswell as referrals for a chest X-ray and CT scan. Her weight during that first week fell to 7st.
At the end of the week we had to call an ambulance for her as she had a fall at home. After being admitted to hospital, 5 days later she has been diagnosed with lung cancer which has spread to bone, neck, spine and to her brain. She has since gone very downhill since being admitted and her weight has plummeted to 6st 3lb. We have finally had her diagnosis but no more info on time scales or much longer we have with her. Infact her care at hospital has been less than satisfactory. I desperately want to get her home, if this is the end for her I want her to be at home surrounded by family. Not visiting hour restrictions and unfamiliar surroundings. Today she is seemingly very confused and in and out of sleep. As it’s the weekend we have been told there is no consultant to give anymore info until next week however I am concerned with the condition she is now in. I assume the sudden confusion is due to an infection? Or hospital? Or is this what to expect with her heartbreaking diagnosis.
I want to think we have months with her yet and we can get her home but I’m afraid that what I am seeing is not very promising. I just wish we could get some honest information and clarity from somebody.
I am not sure what I expect from this post, I am just in shock and don’t feel like we have been given much idea on what to expect now.
Hi LouLou612 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I'm sorry to read how poorly your nan is and it's natural to want to know how much time you might have left with her and what to expect. The best person to answer your questions will be your nan's consultant who you've said she's seeing next week. Would you be able to go to the appointment with your nan so that you can, with her permission, ask your questions?
As you know, the online community is divided into different support forums so I'm going to recommend that you also join the family and friends forum which is a great place to get support from others who have a loved one living with cancer.
If you want to ask questions around your nan's diagnosis then you could also join the lung cancer forum and perhaps also the secondary bone cancer forum and secondary brain cancer forum.
To join any, or all of these groups, just click on the links I've created and, once you've joined, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
It would be great if you could put something about your nan's diagnosis into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
