Good evening.
As a family we aren't new to this challenging disease as my Dad passed in 2011 from oesophagael cancer, my uncle has battle colon cancer twice. My sister had a mass on her kidney removed last year after a fall making an incidental find.
But now we await futher diagnosis of my Mum., she has been unwell for several months. Initially with temporal artetitis however from December she started having severe reflux and couldnt eat without vomiting. (This was over Christmas) THE gP thought was the high dose steriods but since January she had been getting weaker, leading to a paramedic coming out and hearing some fluid in her chest prompting an xray.
She had said xray but that weeeknd was rushed into hospital after not drinking for two days.. the doctor then told her she had a mass in her lung, they got fluids in and started high calorie. Several days later they did a pet scan and it show mets in her adrenal and hip bone.
We are devastated as a family - awaiting results of bronchoscopy but I feel she is too frail for chemo. She cannot tolerate much food and has lost 2 st (so just about 9st).
I started a new job early Jan and whilst my company is great, I'm disabled and don't drive so hubby has to drive me to see her.. I feel guilty I can't be there except for weekends. She's only 45 min away.
Thanks for reading.
Hi GuidingLight84 and welcome to the Macmillan Community but so sorry to hear about your mum’s diagnosis and the journey your family has been on.
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' support challenges can help a lot.
The New to Community is like our reception desk where we look to direct you to the best part of the Community for you to get support. The Community is divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) and when it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting your mum and indeed yourself you may benefit from joining and posting in our Carers only or possibly our Supporting someone with incurable cancer support groups where you will connect with others navigating the exact same support challenges.
To connect 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)
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 may find it helpful to call the Macmillan Support Line 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.
Please do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community.
