Stomach cancer

Hi Marlath 

Welcome to our community, I hope you find it both informative and supportive.

I am Steve one of the community champions and my experience of cancer is via my wife who has Leiomyosarcoma. Our son will be 21 next week and he too has autism.

I can certainly relate to the jumping from one diagnosis to another in the early day of my wife's treatment. For some time the doctors thought she may have sarcoidosis and that may have masked some of the other symptoms until a biopsy finally found the cancer. She had some months on watch and wait before they tried chemotherapy.

My wife's first chemo was stopped half way through because it caused more immediate problems than it solved, I suspect how you picked up about your son being very weak might cause some concern that something might make matters worse for him too. 

Something I find quite helpful is looking at your feelings when someone has cancer as being able to recognize these feelings and accept them as normal, whatever normal means in our world, can help them be a little less overwhelming and with that i have more to offer my wife and my son. 

<<hugs>>

Steve

Hi Marlath. I'm so sorry you find yourself here.  My daughter has just come to the end of nearly two years of treatment - 22 chemo cycles, 3 surgeries and 15 sessions of radiotherapy. Brutal and gruelling. I was beyond devastated at the beginning - as mums, we just want to protect our children - however grown up they are - and take away anything that's hurting them. Sometimes, you just can't do that. Eventually, treatments, hospital visits and waiting for results does become a 'new normal'. I still had very low days - still do - but I learned to cope and you will too.

This time, at the beginning, when you are waiting for a full diagnosis and treatment plan, is the worst.  Once things are in place, it will be a little easier. I had to keep reminding myself that the medical team have great skill and knowledge, have experienced this many times before and want the best for every patient. I hope your son's treatment can start soon.

Sending you love and strength. Hugs xxxx

How devastating for you. I am sorry. My middle son had stomach cancer aged 40. Ffour yers ago. Terrminal when diagnosed. He was finally dignosed by means of a biopsy done during endoscopy. He found that very painful indeed. Initially they had found what they believed was cancer by means of a scan 2/3 weeks earlier. He had been taken to A&E with severe stomach pains. Up until then he had had some stomach pain for a couple of months, which he had taken to his GP a few weeks earlier. After the scan they just said "it's usually cancer", and booked the endoscopy. 3 weeks before the scan he had visited me and I had noticed that he was getting thinner. Around the time of his endoxcopy up until he died, just over 3 months later he became incredibly thin, though this was partly because he had difficulty eating enough - food made him feel full very quickly and nauseous. He chose not to have chemo as he was told that it would prevent him from having a palliative procedure (stent fitted to by pass blocked stomach) if he needed it. Also he preferred quality over quantity. In the event he did need and have the stent and it gave him an extra five weeks over and above his prognosis.

Everyone is different of course, and I do sincerely hope that your very young son has a better outcome than mine did.

He was not autistic, but my eldest son, who also has cancer (a different type) and is now in remission, is autistic so I can understand how this makes it all even more diffiicult than it already is. 

We were pretty much helpless. All we could do was to try to make the time he had left as pleasant as possible for him under the circumstances.

May you and your son find the strength to cope with this shocking news.

Best wishes.