My husband was diagnosed with colan cancer in January last year, he had no real symptoms other than a few pains in his stomach that didn't seem quite right, went to the doctors then to the hospital where we told that he had colan cancer which had spread through the wall of his stomach. With that word 'incurable' all hope of a recovery had gone and I wished that, although the doctors have to say the diagnosis, wish it had been explained to me and not him. He has had two rounds of different chemo, but the cancer progresses and is now on his third round but oral tablets. Three tablets a day made him very fatigued so this week it has been reduced to two tablets a day. This is my first discussion on the forum and want some advice on how other people have coped with this and remained positive. My husband has never been a good patient, he is suffering terribly at the moment but most of the symptoms are from the chemo and not the cancer, I have no idea what the symptoms of advanced colan cancer are, he is very down mentally and we are both finding it hard to cope with what the future holds. At his last scan results in January, he was given 6 months to a year. He is very much a people person but does not want to do anything or go anywhere. Help or any advice please would be very much appreciated.
Lyn
Hi Lyn Nanna W and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your husbands diagnosis.
A cancer diagnosis like this 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…….
Bowel (colon and rectum) cancer
……. 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 husband 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.
