Hello everyone
I am looking for advice for mental health support for my mum. She has stage 4 bowel cancer which has spread to liver and lungs.
She has recently had the operation to remove the tumor in the bowel and had a stoma fitted. We are now waiting for the Chemo appointments which should be in the next few weeks.
She is not recovering as well as expected from the operation, in fact, to be honest, she is deteriorating. Mum has also become withdrawn, weak and angry. Myself and my dad have tried to talk with her and support her with small steps in order to progress, but with no luck. We and her GP have suggested that we contact someone who could speak with her and help her to express how she is feeling - but mum has refused. I feel that her mental health is impacting on her physical health, but i am at a loss to know what to do next?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hi and welcome to the online community
I'm sorry to read that your mum has been diagnosed with bowel cancer and you feel that she is deteriorating. It's quite common for people who have been diagnosed with cancer to feel as your mum does and you might find reading this from Macmillan helpful in understanding cancer and your emotions.
As the online community is divided up into different support groups I'm going to recommend that you join the family and friends group which is a safe and supportive place to share your worries and emotions and talk to others who may have had a similar experience with a loved one.
To join just click on the link I've created and then choose 'click to join' or 'join' (depending on the device you're using) on the page that opens. You can then introduce yourself and post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
It would be great if you could pop something about your mum's diagnosis and treatment into your profile as it really helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
If you have any difficulty navigating the community just drop me a reply and I'll be pleased to help.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
