Hello lovely people,
I have read through many posts here and found so much comfort in people willing to support each other.
My mum has been told she has incurable cancer and is undergoing a biopsy for confirmation/treatment options. She has lung nodules as per a scan taken last week.
One CRN nurse has told me on the phone that cancer has spread to the lungs. Another told me on a different day that without the biopsy of the primary site, they cannot confirm it is cancer.
I think I am the only person who has been told this. I was at the appointment and am certain they did not mention her lungs. At the beginning when asked to sum up what she knew, mum mentioned they had seen nodules on a scan but that was not brought up again. I am also the only person with permission from mum to talk with the CRN team.
I don't want to bring this up to family and scare them, especially when I've been given conflicting accounts but knowing this feels so isolating.
It might be two weeks until we get results and I just feelnlike I'm sat with a bomb in my chest that I have to keep contained and I just dont know how to function normally while we wait.
I'm so sorry to here about you're mum.
I was in a similar position with my dad,he's parotid gland cancer and has had an operation and a neck dissection .I'd also full permission to speak to the crn nurses and drs and I was told things that my dad wasn't aware of or my mum,I was told because I would ask more in depth ,tell me straight ,don't sugar coat it things...I just kept it to myself ..if mum or dad asked what I'd been told I'd just hint that it was possibly more serious than we thought ...at one stage I said to my parents that the sort of questions I asked might not be the questions they'd want to know the answers to ,and did they want to know..my mum said dad doesn't want to know so I kept quiet untill the drs actually told them.My dad's ok ISH now and on active watch ,wait and monitor due to him not wanting further unpleasant treatment .
It is scary while you are waiting for more information, isn't it,? Trying to stay cheerful around the person you are caring for, trying to look normal in front of those she or he,does not want to be told too much, all while you Cathy the anxiety alone is exhausting. I found myself dwelling on what ifs day and night.
Do you have a friend who knows,a little about your family but doesn't know them persoally, that you could meet or "talk to" online?
I had recently been put in touch with a close school friend who had moved to Canada and I had lost track of in the 1980s. She and I were catching up on family news from over four decades and reminiscing about childhood days. Then one night I just told her about my fears for my husband and my own struggles with supporting him through his struggle to accept what was happening to him. She has been so kind and caring about both of us and it was such a relief to just tell someone not actively involved how I was feeling.
Do try to talk to someone who is at least a little removed from your family. It truly helps.
Hiya
Sorry to hear about your Mum, I have similar with my partner and not telling people that our GP told us it's probably spead to his liver, but no answers from mdt as they meet next week.
I have no answers on how to make it any easier, but know you are not alone
Be kind to yourself
MJ x
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