Hey everyone, I'm Evie (25 years old). My lovely Mam, who turns 61 tomorrow, has lung cancer. She was diagnosed with COPD a few years back after years of smoking but did eventually quit just last year. She went for a scan in February this year as she was becoming more breathless to the point she couldn't walk the dog (a tiny 13 year old Yorkshire terrier, so not a great deal of hard work!) and they discovered that she had cancer on the top lobe of her right lung. Thankfully, it was relatively new and they were able to intervene fast.
She had surgery last month to have the lobe removed and it all went well, surgery successful. It was keyhole so not overly invasive and her recovery has been okay, minus a bit of nerve pain/tiredness etc. Unfortunately she has been informed the cancer has spread to a new part of her lung and has been advised to have chemotherapy and immunotherapy. They say because the newly discovered cancer is so "fresh", her long-term is looking good and they are confident that she will be okay after this.
I suppose I just don't know what to do. I feel so devastated. She's my bestest friend and there's nobody in this world I love more than her. I'm so thankful that everything has been discovered and acted upon as quickly as it has but I just have so many feelings and not sure what to do with them. I can't even talk to my own friends about it or my therapist. Whenever anyone asks, I just say "she's got cancer - what else is there to say?". Which I know is very cynical but I just don't know what I am meant to say? I've been to see her at her house today and just got home after 2 hours of crying, hugging, talking etc. We haven't had any time together just us two since she found out as whenever I've been to visit, her friends have picked me up on the way. I told her how I was feeling and she recommended I come here to talk to someone. I'm not even sure what I'm looking for, or what I'm expecting.
Thanks for reading x
Hi eviethestrange 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 mam has lung cancer and it's normal to have a range of emotions.
As the online community is divided into different support forums I'm going to recommend that you join the family and friends forum which is a great place to get support and talk about your feelings and emotions.
To join, just click on the link 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'.
If you have any problems navigating the community just drop me a reply and I'll be pleased to help.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
