I’m caring for my partner who has cancer. They don’t know where it’s started from. But he has secondary cancer in the spine. is it normal they don’t know where it started from? His had a biopsy done over 15 days ago. Marina

Hi Marina Marinap and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your partners 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 or support challenges will help you a lot……. and yes, unfortunately not knowing where the primary cancer is can happen a lot.

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…

         Spinal cord tumours

         Unknown primary cancer

……. support groups.

These groups are 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 partner and indeed yourself you may benefit from joining and posting in our……

     Carers only

……. support group 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.

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.