Hi Im not sure where to start. My daughter's husband age 49 has just been diagnosed with an incurable, stage 4 brain tumour. They have two little ones age 7 and nearly 9. As you can imagine we are all devastated and as I live nearby and I'm not working I'm trying to help them as much as I can. My other two grown up kids and our friends are being fantastic and doing whatever they can. But blimey this is massive!!! The emotional blow is huge but dealing with the admin feels overwhelming. Is anyone else going through similar and have any nuggets of advice?
One of the things we keep bumping up against is the financial side of things. My daughter is so worried about this but her hubby struggles to engage with it as he's quite naturally trying to maintain a positive outlook and not get depressed. Talking about how she manages finances when he's gone is a no go subject for him at the moment and we're unsure how to manage this.
Grateful for any sign posting or advice x
Hi Gaby64 and a warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but I am sorry to hear about your son in law’s diagnosis.
Navigating this journey will be such a stressful and challenging time but talking with and getting support from people who have walked or are walking the ‘exact same' treatment journey, be it as a patient or caregiver can help 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 son in law and indeed yourself and the rest of the family you may benefit from joining and posting in our general cancer……
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.
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.
As always 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…….. especially with benefits and 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 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))
