Hi all, I am new here. I never thought I’d have any interaction with Cancer, it’s not even something I considered until I turned 28 and my mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer after finding a tumour. The tumour is 7cm and she also has a benign one on her adrenal gland. She has completed radiation which went pretty well but after her first chemo session everything went way downhill. She took lots of symptoms and she generally hates medication (she’s vegan and always natural) so the cancer nurse told her to stop until her appointment tomorrow. My mum said she would rather die of cancer than take any more chemo. My mum is really stubborn in general I wish she would just power through but I know it’s tough for her. Any thoughts on someone refusing chemo even though it could save their life? I am trying to wait and be patient but I know every day that goes by without treatment counts. Not to mention the fact she waited 6 months since her first urgent referral to even get treatment and I’ve been on edge the whole time. Thanks if you got this far! Bee x
Hi Bee1402 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 sorry to read that your mum has bowel cancer and that she found her first cycle of chemo very difficult. I have just finished chemo for a different type of cancer and fortunately didn't suffer from any major side-effects. However, I do know that the chemo dose can be altered if someone finds it difficult to tolerate and this might be suggested at her appointment tomorrow.
As the online community is divided up into different support groups I'm going to recommend that you join the bowel cancer group, which is a great place to ask questions and to share experiences with others.
I'm also going to suggest that you join either the carers only group, if you're your mum's carer, or the family and friends group if you're not her carer. Both are supportive places where you can share your emotions and worries with others who have a loved one living with cancer.
To join any of these groups just click on the links I've created which will take you directly there. You can then join and start a new 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 so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on 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.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
