Hi there,
im new this community and here to get advice on how to support my friend who has terminal cancer. He is currently in hospital and the palliative care team have been to see him and his wife a couple of times to talk about next steps but both my friend and his wife seem unable to talk to each other about what is happening. They have a 13year old son too and he doesn’t know how poorly his Dad is.
i worry my friend may die without he and his wife ever having discussed his wishes or told their son that his Dad was going to die. My friend has told me he knows he has to make some decisions about where he wants to spend his final days and he also acknowledges that he and his wife need to talk but she is so focused on him coming home from hospital she doesn’t think it’s necessary to talk about hospice care etc
what can I do to help?
Hi and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I'm really sorry to read that your friend has recently been diagnosed with an incurable cancer and it's not uncommon for those closest not to want to talk about it.
As the online community is divided up into different support groups, I'm going to recommend that you join the supporting someone with incurable cancer group, which is a safe and supportive place to discuss your worries and emotions with others who have a loved one with an incurable cancer as well as practical issues.
To join just click on the link I've provided which will take you directly to the group. You can then join and start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with exiting conversations by clicking on 'reply.
Macmillan have this information on talking to children and teenagers when an adult has cancer and it's also available in booklet form. It will give your friends some guidance on how to prepare for the conversation as well as how best to approach the subject.
If you have any problems navigating the community, just get in touch with me 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"
