Hi, my mum has just been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She is 79 so has come to live with us. At the same time, I've just had to put my dad into a care home as he has Alzheimer's. I'm an only child and have a 4 month old puppy as well as a full time job.
I'm feeling very overwhelmed at the moment as I'm having to arrange everything. I've had no time to allow myself to feel sad, or indeed feel anything at all, yet. I barely have time to have a shower - the last one was days ago.
I just wondered if anyone has any advice at all on how to cope with the mental health side of caring when there's not a spare moment to even think?
Hi LouCon and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your mum’s diagnosis and the challenges your family are facing,
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……
……. support group.
This group 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.
As for the practical and emotional challenges of supporting your mum and indeed yourself you may benefit from joining and posting in our……
Supporting someone with incurable cancer
……. 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.
Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community.
