Hi. I'm here to find information and support as my sister and I begin to care for our 88 year-old Mum who has stage 3 ovarian cancer that has spread into her abdomen. She's become very poorly very quickly and has just started hormone treatment (Letrozole) aiming to stop the cancer from spreading further.
I'm learning to be a carer in super-quick time and have given up some of my self-employment work to move in with Mum as I live 250 miles away. At the moment I have too many questions to make sense of and I'm trying not to think too far ahead. I'm hoping that over the coming months I might find some connection here that helps me stay sane. When my Dad died of cancer 9 years ago I lost myself in the grieving and I can't let that happen again. thank you
Hi shrieh and a warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but so sorry to hear about your mum.
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.
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 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.
