Hi all,
I would really appreciate any insight/advice from people with similar experiences:
I live abroad, but my over 70 year old dad in London has a cavity in his lung, and he is going to have an endoscopy soon as the oncologist believes he may have lung cancer, which is likely given his health background. I am a bit lost about how to support him and my mum who are inevitably terrified, plus I am not able to be with them as they have been told they they have to go into total isolation (not even leave the front door for a daily walk). This is most worrying for me, not just because they can't have loved ones around but also because if he is diagnosed, he wont be able to do the things he enjoys most to keep his spirits up, plus he is at the best of times a worrier and gets stressed easily, although my mum is the opposite luckily. I feel totally powerless/useless and wish there was something I could do other than calling regularly to help keep my parents spirits up, which is going to be vital to facilitate whatever treatment plan is proscribed if he is diagnosed with lung cancer
Hi and welcome to the Online Community, although I am sorry to see you finding us and so sorry to hear about your dad’s diagnosis and the challenges surrounding supporting him.
A cancer diagnosis indeed brings a lot of confusion, stress and many questions I have no experience that I can give you but talking with other people who are on the same type of journey helped a lot.
The Community has many dedicated support groups so can I direct you to our supportive Carers only and Family and friends groups where you will connect with others supporting family through their cancer journey.
Follow the links I've created above, join the groups, then hit ‘start a discussion’ and you are ready to go.
You could then copy and paste the information from this first post into your new discussion or you can just join in with existing ‘Discussions’ by clicking on 'reply'.
It’s always good to talk, so can I highlight the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 This service covers Emotional Support, Practical Information. Clinical Information, Financial Support and Work Guidance mostly open 8.00 to 8.00
Our Online Information and Support Section is a good place to find information covering cancer diagnosis, treatments and pages covering most types of cancers.
All the very best.
