Hi,
My partner was diagnosed with a brain tumour in April 2022 and had surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. The prognosis wasn’t great yet almost 2 years on he is still reasonably well and able to do most things. The cancer spread to his lungs and he was offered surgery to remove a lung which he refused due to the brain tumour being aggressive stage 4. He previously had targeted treatment but caused damage to his vision so had to stop, he also does not want chemo. He has recently suffered quite major changes with his memory, speech and concentration which is concerning and he also lost his balance yesterday and fell over at the train station alone, his brain could not process how to get up. He is very independent and reluctant to accept help from me as he wants to do as much as he can while he still can, I feel like we are just waiting for the inevitable to happen and wondering if anyone can offer real advice as the consultants are always vague and won’t commit to timescales ……any advice welcome, thanks in advance
Hi RP21 and a warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but so sorry to hear about your partners diagnosis and challenges.
A cancer journey in the family like this can be such a challenging and stressful time but getting support from others who are dealing with the ‘exact same' support challenges can 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 try 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) and when it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting your partner 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.
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.
