Dad was recently diagnosed with stage 2 pancreatic cancer
He has had one lot of chemo, which he breezed through for the first week, but in the second week he was really ill. He did not eat anything for 3 days as his mouth was really sore and he had terrible stomache ache.
His second round of chemo was cancelled as he had lost 11 lbs in the 2 weeks between chemo. His dietician told him to eat whatever he wanted to put the weight back on so he could have the next lot. He did eat and he did put some weight back on. Next lot of chemo was on for the week after......only to be told when he arrived that his blood sugars were far too high, so he spent all day being given insulin. No chemo again. Anyhow its hopefully on for this week so everything crossed.
Hi kezwag and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your dad’s diagnosis and as to the challenges he is having.
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 or support challenges will help you a lot……. I have a completely different type of cancer and treatment journey.
This New to Community area 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 actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) so can I recommend you look to join and post in our dedicated….
……. support group.
This group is a safe places 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.
As for the practical and emotional challenges of supporting your dad and indeed yourself you may benefit from joining and posting in our……
Carers only (if you are his caregiver)
……. support groups where you will connect with a wide range of members 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 in the [Black - Click to Join - Banner] that appears at the bottom of the page and this will then confirm that you have joined the group.
When you are ready……. you can introduce yourself by putting up your very own post by clicking [+ Create new post] or [+] in the top right of the group page.
You can copy and paste the text from this post into your new post.
It is an emotional time supporting family so you might find this Macmillan information your feelings when someone has cancer helpful as well as this link getting help with your emotions.
The Macmillan Support Line is open between 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.
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.
