Mum now diagnosed with incurable cancer-how do I even process this?

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Hi guys

It's been a while since I've been on here, so I;ll give an update.

Mum was first diagnosed with high grade endometrial cancer back at the end of 2022. She had a hysterectomy and chemo/radiotherapy, with all the standard follow ups with oncology.

As we were told there were no signs at the time that the cancer had spread, we got to the 2 year post treatment scan thinking all would be ok...

...we went to the follow up appointment last week to be told the cancer had indeed spread to her liver and other lymph nodes, and is now incurable. Any treatment she has now (she's decided to opt for a course of immunotherapy and tablet treatment) will only prolong her life.

As her daughter (I do have an older sister but she lives a fair distance away) and I'll also be managing most of the caring responsibility, how the hell do I begin to process this? How the hell do I get my head around this?

It seems quite cruel really, as she came to her state retirement age while having treatment, so she of course retired from both her jobs without ever returning from sick leave (because of the cancer treatment). Her treatment finished in May 2023 so it feels like she's had barely any time to enjoy her retirement and now she's been told her cancer has not only returned, it's incurable.

I just can't get my head around it.

Please don't feel you have to respond to me, I just needed to write this down somewhere where people would understand.