Hi everyone.
what a lovely and important community. My dad was diagnosed with early stage lung cancer in spring 2024. Despite surgery and chemo, the cancer has spread throughout his body. He has not been given a prognosis but neither he nor I or his other kids have a huge amount of hope, sadly, given how quickly and aggressive the cancer seems to be. He’s currently in treatment and was recently hospitalised, it took a while for the docs to figure it out but the cancer has got into his digestive tract so he’s only on clear liquids and is very weak.
He’s fiercely independent and finding it very hard to let us help him, and also not communicating well with us about his health which is causing tons of stress and confusion. I intend to talk to him about it very soon so we can move forward in a better way. His partner has early onset Alzheimers, which is obviously a huge complication and responsibility for her care a major source of stress too.
Honestly, I’m here because I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m fortunate in that this is my first experience with cancer in a close family member. But it makes me ill equipped to navigate any of it, and as someone with quite serious depression and anxiety, I can feel myself falling apart inside. I know there’s no guidebook for this but my god, if only there could be.
sending solidarity to anyone else feeling lost and clueless!
Hi dantediamante and a warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but so sorry to hear about your dad’s diagnosis and the challenges your are facing.
A cancer diagnosis 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.
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.
As you see the Community is actually divided into dedicated Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) and when it comes to the practical and emotional challenges of supporting your dad and indeed yourself you may benefit from joining and posting in our……
Family and Friends…. that I do see you have found
Carers only (if you are his caregiver)
Supporting someone with incurable cancer
……. support groups where you will connect with a wide range of members navigating the exact same support challenges.
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 ((hugs))
Thank you Mike 
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