Can I see my grandchildren once chemo starts?

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My husband has been finally diagnosed this week with Stage 2 lung cancer. It’s not possible to operate so he has been told it’s going to be chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I’m lucky in that I work from home so will be here to care for him but he’s such a quiet, self-contained man and I am the complete opposite…and my social outlet each week is seeing my very young grandchildren and my daughter who lives about an hour away.

I have no clue what his treatment is going to look like, we are new to this and are going to be completely naive at this stage. My question is, with his immune system going to be absolutely compromised by the chemo, is the reality a return to Covid conditions of FaceTime relationships only? Am I not going to see family members for months to come?

Please don’t judge, I feel so self-centred for asking such a question. It’s not me with cancer and not me scared of what’s going to happen physically, I just can’t quite get my head round what life is going to be like for us. I also have no clue what to say to children aged 2 up to 8 years old where we’ve gone.

London Lass 9 days ago

Hi, its good to write how you feel.

You do not need to stop seeing family, we have not told our grandchildren, they are 10 & 5 years old but time will come when we have to. They have seen my hubby in hospital and have not asked any questions.

If they can go into a hospital full of ill people visiting close relatives should not be a problem, hand washing, masks if necessary.

Its a learning curve for us all.

Do what you need to do to keep you sain.

I am trying to not let cancer define all I do and as selfish as it might seem to others us carers need some normality in our life.

I have fought the last 18 months trying to get the right treatment for my hubby.

Stay strong, sending hugs x

Holstendog63 9 days ago in reply to London Lass

Thank you so much for your reply. I just know that I’ll be better able to look after him if I have a couple of hours a week with the kids to look forward to. I suspect that might be the one time each week I have some laughter and a bit of normality, but I wouldn’t want to risk my husband’s immune system.

Feels like I’m going to have to take lots of precautions and not go near if they’ve got any signs of infections.

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