Dear all,
My beloved mum has just been diagnosed with lung cancer that has spread to multiple lymph nodes in the chest. She presented with a hoarse voice and has a lymph node in her neck. Now we are waiting biopsy and pet scan, as well as lung function tests.
I am absolutely terrified as she is my whole world, and I am cursing myself for not noticing things sooner and taking her to the doctor. Spread to the lymph nodes already sounds terrible and I am terrified it will have spread else where and she will be incurable. Waiting is agony and feels incredibly slow, even when I know it’s expected. I am experiencing severe anxiety, struggling to sleep and eat, worrying about her constantly and struggling to concentrate. I worry most of all about what she will have to go through and what I will do if she cannot be treated.
I know I have to wait to find out results of biopsy and scan but does anyone have any help or advice on managing this awful situation?
Thanks in advance.
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. Her primary was likely a fibroid but it spread to lymph nodes and lungs and indeed the primary was likely removed even before she was diagnosed.
My wife's cancer is at least currently uncurable - but it has been that way now for over 10 years, the second lot of chemo she had rendered her cancer stable and nowadays she just ends up seeing the oncology team once a year though she has an open ended option to book an appointment if she needs.
There is quite a good article on the worry of waiting and know I recognize a lot in that. I ended up doing a living with less stress course that really helped me. A key element was looking to appreciate what we have rather than focusing on a future that I could imagine actually worse than really happened. The conscious breathing tips were helpful too both in getting some rest when I needed but also in dealing with things when life decides to throw us another curveball.
Remember to talk to your GP about how you feel, mine was really helpful. Post on here whenever as someone is always listening and together we help support each other and of course we all understand.
<<hugs>>
Steve
