Help

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Hi,
I’ve no idea if I’m in the right place or not but here goes. 

my partner was diagnosed with anal cancer in February this year, we went through chemo and radiotherapy and finished that in June. Apart from the third degree type burns we had to managed all seemed well over the summer, we had a good couple of months although he was fearful of doing anything so we haven’t been away anywhere (my home feels so much like a prison I would love to get away from it….. anyway that’s not super important here) 

we went for the final “all clear” scan and they found a 19mm area of concern in the rectal passage, a biopsy was scheduled and it confirmed the cancer hadn’t gone. So we waited and waited….. new scans were ordered and then they picked up a huge growth in the stomach (well outside of the stomach between the stomach and liver) which they hadn’t seen before and had literally, seemingly grown at lightening speed. 

yet another biopsy later and it was confirmed it’s the same type of cancer as the the original but they hadn’t ever seen the cancer take that pathway and at that speed. Fast forward and we had the terminal diagnosis as there is nothing they can do now. We have life extending chemo and end of life pain specialists to help him but honestly he’s no longer himself and sleeps 90% of the time. It’s soul destroying to watch and know I can’t have any effect on. He doesn’t want to know timelines but I have to know for my own sanity so I asked when he was having some blood work. It’s between 6/8 months and at the best a year if the chemo works. :(  

so on to the bit I need help with. I don’t know how to feel. His family are all useless and I when they do offer help it’s wrong or just irritates me. He will never say anything but I’d rather they just sod off and leave us alone. My family all emigrated in January this year which is the most unfortunate timing so I feel incredibly alone. It’s crushing. 

Over the last week or so I am feeling resentful and I want to do something normal. We can’t even watch a film together because he can’t sit (only lay) and he’s constantly uncomfortable or asleep. I spend all of my time alone and although friends offer to take me out I don’t think they understand I can’t just up and leave him and he doesn’t want people here asking obvious questions and pitying him. It’s a rock and a hard place. I no longer sleep in our bedroom so he can spread out and get comfy and he’s also up about 10 times a night to the toilet so it’s really affecting me with energy levels. I don’t feel he is nice to me anymore and demands, drinks, food, help with the toilet, help to get up and down the stairs etc. I really don’t mind but a thank you wouldn’t go a miss (I know I sound petty and selfish here, I’m well aware of that) put on top of all this the running of the house, the pets, the shopping, the cleaning (which is constant because he’s so messy) things breaking that need fixing. I just feel I can’t cope. 

how do other people cope, do you feel very resentful? Is this normal? Any help or advice would be very welcome. Thank you

  • That must have been so distressing for all of you!! Bit at least he's opening up now, hopefully thinks might get a bit better. Why don't they just talk? It's not going to take away any of their masculinity! Like you I've spent so much time crying I'm all cried out now. My husbands always been high maintenance, a man child I call him, sulks over any little thing but in the 12 years we've been married I've managed this quite well, but when he was out on steroids my god it was awful, he was so angry all the time I had to ask the nurse to get him some diazepam to level him off. Now he's not on any medication it's just his frame of mind, even the girls are getting fed up of walking in egg shells because you genuinely dont know what will set him off next!! He's such hard work. He won't talk to any one, he sees it as a sign of weakness,  I think I find it harder because when friends (the ones he will see) come round he's a different person, having a beer and laugh like there's nothing going on. Then as soon as they leave its back to being an arse is the only way I can put it. It got to the stage the other day where I questioned myself - "would I put up with this behaviour if he wasn't ill and going through palliative care?" And my answer was no I wouldn't, so why should I put up with it now???!! I worry that I'll end up feeling relief when he's gone instead of grief. How's your daughter now Lou Lou41?  She must have been devastated seeing her dad like that??? Xxx

  • Wouldn't it be amazing to wake up somewhere else and forget about everything for a couple of hours??? When my husband was really bad a few weeks ago my manager asked me if I wanted time off work??? I was like hell no, I need to be here for my own sanity, to have a break from home life. Before joining this forum the other week I was shitting the world out, I had my birthday in October, I had loads of messages from friends and family, I still haven't answered any of them just couldn't be bothered, when I'm out walking the dog I try and avoid people because the conversation always comes back to how is he? And I'm so fed up of explaining the same thing over and over, very rarly does any one ask how I am, not that I'm needy or want attention but it would be nice every now and again to be asked because people just assume your fine. I think I put in another comment at times I feel like the hired help rather than his wife, when the nurses were coming round he was all thank you so much, I'm OK thanks my wife can manage, then once they've gone he's at it again, not that I expect over to the top expressions of gratitude but a little thank you or sorry for snapping at you would go a long way at times, we're all in this together Leab, I'm so glad I found this thread, I actually thought it was just me but there are so many of us going through the same thing xxx

  • Absolutely 100  my oh has been awful to live with he won't do anything , he's let himself go ,  starting to resent him and thinking about leaving my 26 year relationship I'll lose everything I've worked for but I need to think about myself , I'm more than happy to help but if someone treats me awful no thanks and won't help themselves I give up 

  • Hi, I lost myself a long time ago and it's such a lonely place to be, no one to talk to that actually understands what your saying, if I said half the thinhs I wanted to say I think people would think I was a terrible wife, if people knew how hostloe my husband has been towards me he'd get sympathy because he's going through this terrible situation - I felt like I had no where to go, no one supporting me , and I felt so guilty when I first joined this forum until I read others comments and realised I wasn't alone in feeling resentful, angry, unappreciated, it was a relief for me to here that others were going through the same thing. anticipatory grief was difficult for me to get my head around, my husband was so ill for weeks, stopped eating and drinking, sleep all the time even the palliative care nurse was getting concerned, I was preparing myself for the worst every day thinking is today the day I'm going to find him? So worried about what I would do if I did? How I would cope when he passed? Then he got better, no one knows why but he bounced back over night and I couldn't understand why I was feeling sad, feeling empty at times, I should have been happy, relieved but I wasn't, I started to think I was depressed, but I spoke to a nurse who pointed me to this forum and I saw what I was going through was normal for some people in our situation. I think the hardest part of when some one you love changes and they change into a person you don't recognise any more, take care  and I'm here if you need a chat. Xx

  • It horrible when you have to think like that, have you tried speaking to your husband? Have you told him how your feel? I tried speaking to mine a few times but I get told it's all in my head or that he's in pain and tired. He won't open up to me about his feelings, if he did then I might understand his behaviour a bit more. And the mood swings my days I can't keep up? I hear you when you say your thinking about leaving, in another comment I've literally just said that I had conversation with my self the other day, he'd been particularly rude on several occasions and I thought to myself, if he wasn't going through this would I accept this behaviour from him and the answer was no, I wouldn't accept this behaviour under any other circumstances so why should this be different, when he was on the steroids I could understand the explosions of temper as they amplified  his feelings 100% but now he's off them and it's just him I'm struggling. I'd like to think that if it was me and roles were reversed that I would make the most of my loved ones and our time, I would appreciate everything they did for me and more importantly I would apologise if I did snap, I wouldn't want their last memories of me to be of an angry hostile woman who didn't appreciate them and made every day difficult fr them. Xx

  • Friendlygal

    I could have written almost all of that. It is such a difficult and emotional situation we are all in and so hard to know how to react.

    I have found this group a massive support. Being able to vent to people who truly understand and not be judged makes you feel so much better. Take care xx

  • sorry pressed wrong button x