My mum was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer which has spread to her spine and hip bone about 4 weeks ago. She has been in severe pain for a few months but doctors kept prescribing pain meditation to treat sciatica. She has declined greatly over the last two weeks and is now bed bound, awaiting a second opinion before she can start radiotherapy. I feel like the hospital has been so slow regarding her treatment, with multiple cancelled or rearranged appointments. She even struggled to make it to one appointment to turn up and the department was closed! They has put the wrong date on the letter. I'm now so scared that they've left it too late.
I'm an only child and live an hour away from her with my 6 month old baby. I'm finding it so difficult juggling everything and feel guilty for not going to see her more than once or twice a week, but I have no other family to help with childcare. I'm also so sad for her that she's waited years to become a grandma and now she's missing out on this time as she's too poorly to even hold her grandson. We're now waiting on a space in a hospice for her. I just can't even think about losing my mum. She's my best friend.
Hi Macs95 and a warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but I am so sorry to hear about your mum and the challenges you are dealing with.
A cancer diagnosis in the family like this can be such a challenging and stressful time but getting support from others who are dealing with the ‘exact same' support challenges can help you a lot……. I have a completely different type of cancer and treatment journey.
The Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) and when it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting your mum and indeed yourself you may benefit from joining and posting in our……
Supporting someone with incurable cancer
……. support groups where you will connect with a wide range of members navigating the exact same support challenges.
To connect with a group click on the “Bold Italic Links” I have created above …… then once the group page opens click in the [Black - Click to Join - Banner] that appears at the bottom of the page and this will then confirm that you have joined the group.
When you are ready……. you can introduce yourself by putting up your very own post by clicking [+ Create new post] or [+] in the top right of the group page.
You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post.
It is an emotional time supporting family so you might find this Macmillan information your feelings when someone has cancer helpful as well as this link getting help with your emotions.
The Macmillan Support Line is open between 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00…… this service provides cancer information, practical information, emotional support, benefits/financial guidance or just a listening ear.
Talking to people ‘face to face’ can be very helpful so do check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area, do also check for a local Maggie's Centre as these folks are amazing.
Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community ((hugs))
