My husband has recently been diagnosed Kidney tumour - large and advised as inoperable due to having an aortic valve replacement operation 4 years ago. The cancer has spread to pelvis & hip & ?other I am trying to support him, although also disabled with health issues, but what to expect? Consultant is surprised he is asymptomatic (which is good I guess). but with me things are not easy, just someone to talk to who understands.
Hi Diamondplus and a warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but so sorry to hear about your husband.
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 dedicated…….
……. 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 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/work 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.
Many thanks for such a prompt & helpful response. I have joined a couple of groups & made note of the other forms of help. You quoted my hero (Nelson Mandela) I wrote about him before he was released from prison.
I was diagnosed in 1999 age 44 with a rare (8 in a million) hard to treat incurable types of Cutaneous T-Cell Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) then in late 2013 a second rare (4 in a million) more aggressive fast growing Peripheral T-Cell NHL came along taking me to stage 4……. but the words of Nelson Mandela were always firmly in my mind and so far so good.
Whatever cancer throws your way, we’re right there with you.
We’re here to provide physical, financial and emotional support.
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