Good Afternoon all,
The Big C has paid us a nasty visit after a routine colonoscopy….the report indicated a possible malignant Villious Tumour, 3.5cm mushroom shaped rogue polyp. Mum has had a CT scan, MRI and blood work. The team called to say it’s bad news and it is confirmed cancer. Team are meeting with us this Wednesday and have a treatment plan in place….we have no idea where this goes from here. Mum suffers terribly with anxiety and mental health and is terrified of finding out that she is incurable….she has no obvious symptoms and slight bleeding from time to time. Does anyone know if they wait to tell you if your cancer is very serious? I’m of the opinion that waiting for an appointment is rather positive? Could anyone tell me what their experience was? Also how best to support her. She wants me to reassure her that she is not going to die or be very seriously ill…..the more anxious she gets the less optimistic I am…Please Help.
Hi Dibdobdaughter and welcome to the Online Community but so sorry to hear about your mum.
A cancer diagnosis like this in the family can be such a challenging and stressful time but getting support from others who are dealing with the ‘exact same' cancer type and support challenges can help a lot.
The Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend you consider joining and posting in our dedicated Bowel (colon and rectum) cancer support group. This is a safe place to talk to others who may have a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support from family members who are navigating the same journey.
When it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting family and friends you may also benefit from joining our Carers only support group where you will connect with others navigating the same support challenges.
To join a group first click on the “Bold Links” I have created above then once the group page opens click on “Click to Join” when the black banner appears or “Join” under “Group Tools” (this all depends on the device you are using)
You can then put up your own post when you’re ready by clicking “+new” or “+” in the top right next to the group title. You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post. You can also scroll through other members posts and click “Reply” to get involved.
It’s a challenging time for you so you may want to use 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.
We also have our Ask an Expert section but do allow a few working days for a reply.
Talking to people face to face can be very helpful so do check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area, do also check for a local Maggie's Centre as these folks are amazing.
Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community.
Hi Dibdobdaughter 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 recently been diagnosed with cancer and it's perfectly natural for you to both be anxious at this difficult time in the diagnosis process.
The online community is divided up into different support groups, so I'm going to recommend that you join either the carers only group, if you are your mum's carer, or the family and friends group, if you're not her carer. Both groups are safe and supportive places to discuss your worries and emotions it's just that the carers only group is just for carers.
I'm assuming, that as you mentioned that your mum had recently had a colonoscopy, that she has been diagnosed with bowel cancer. If this is correct, joining the bowel cancer group would be a good place to go to ask questions and share experiences about that type of cancer and it's treatment. If I haven't got the type of cancer right, click here to look through the list of cancer specific groups to find the right one for your mum.
To join the groups, just click on the links I've created and, once you've joined, you can 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.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
