Hi. We are 3wks in from a totally ‘out of the blue’ diagnosis of stage 4 liver cancer with bone and now suspected brain mets in my 82yr old Dad.
up to 3wks ago he was power walking every morning, riding his motorbike and using his exercise bike every night while he watched Look North!
He came to stay with me after the Dr told us what the pain in his rib was and gave us the CT results.
Dads pain is totally unmanageable so has gone into the hospice for palliative symptom management. Hopefully so he can come home to us afterwards.
my head is a total shed. I’m stressing about how/what/if we will manage…I’m self employed and can’t get any help with finances. Everything seems so overwhelming I just can’t get my head around it all and the worst thing is the fear of the unknown, what’s coming next and knowing this is all we have so needing to make it as positive as I can for Dad.
any help or advice would be very welcome.
thank you x
Hi and a warm welcome to the Online Community although I am so sorry to hear about your dad's diagnosis.
A cancer journey in the family like this can be so stressful and challenging in many ways but I do hope you find the community a safe place to get support and ask your questions.
The New to Community is like our reception desk where you can be signpost to our various cancer support groups and other services so can I recommend that you consider joining our supportive Liver cancer (I see you have joined) Bone, secondary cancer and Brain, secondary tumours groups. These will be a safe place to talk to others who may have a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions, get support and talk with others who are supporting family and friends on their journey.
If you'd like to connect in with a group click on the Green link I have created above. Then once the page opens click on the black banner that says [click to join] at the bottom, or the [Join] button under "Group tools."
You can then introduce yourself by putting up a ‘new post’ by clicking in the box near the top right with + New or + (Depending on the device you are using) and you are ready to go.
You could copy and paste the text from this post into your new post and as always you can reply to existing ‘Discussions’ by click [reply].
When it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting someone on their cancer journey you may benefit from joining our supportive Carers only and Supporting someone with incurable cancer groups where you will connect with others supporting family and friends
The Macmillan Support Line is open 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00 or via Webchat and Email too. This service provides cancer information, practical information, emotional support, benefits/financial guidance or just a listening ear.
You may also find our Cancer Nurse Team in our Ask an Expert section helpful but do allow a few working days for a reply.
Talking to people face to face when on a cancer journey (patient or family) can be very helpful but during these strange times it’s not that available but do check to see if any Local Macmillan Support in your area has opened up. Do also check out for a local Maggie's Centre in your area as these folks are amazing and provide support for all the family.
Always around if you need further help in navigating the community.
All the very best ((hugs))
