Hi All. I came here, as my dad was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and I'm struggling to cope with it. We were lucky to get started on chemo quickly and he seems to be feeling okay all considered. I'm a biologist, so the science I get, the emotional consequences are harder to understand and I hate seeing my mum struggle so much with it. I'm 23, and was planning to move out next year, but I can't leave my mum to handle everything alone. It's completely changed our day to day life and plans for the future, but there's still so much uncertainty. We have the PET scan soon, which might help with that I guess?
Hi AutumnCoffee and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your dad’s diagnosis.
A cancer diagnosis 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 will help a lot.
The Community is actually divided into dedicated Cancer Specific Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend you join and post 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 support journey.
It will be an emotional time supporting your dad. so you might find this Macmillan information your feelings when someone has cancer helpful as well as this link getting help with your emotions, and I do see that you have already joined our Family and friends and Supporting someone with incurable cancer support groups and you may want to look at our Carers only group where you will connect with others navigating the same support challenges.
To connect in with a group click on the “Bold Italic 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)
When you are ready you can put up your own post 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.
The Macmillan Support Line is open 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00. 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 and provide support from all the family.
Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community but in the meantime all the very best.
