Denial? depression? Aggression?

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Hi, I am supporting my sister whose husband has NSCLC stage IV and seems to be in denial. He is feeling ill, is in pain, yet won’t tell his GP or Onc. His denial and aggressive behaviour are causing difficulties for my sister.
Can she approach the husband’s GP and have a word? Can she manage to overcome the husband’s aggression and suggest to him that he tell the GP or onc?
is the husband in denial because he wants to carry on working to support the family? (She is disabled and on benefits..)

I am concerned about the situation (and live too far away to visit or help).

Any comments? Would appreciate all ideas.

GodWilling over 3 years ago

Hi SPDE that is such a difficult situation for all of you to be in and I am so sorry you are all going through this.

The most important thing is that your sister stays safe, so if her husband is displaying aggressive behaviour I would suggest that she avoids doing anything that would aggravate him and make the aggressive behaviour worse.

Her husband is obviously going through a really hard time with his diagnosis and unfortunately it's difficult to force people to seek help. Your suggestion of your sister talking to his doctor seems a sensible approach especially if the doctor is happy not to let her husband know that she contacted them. Then hopefully the doctor can contact her husband directly and ask how he is feeling and how he is getting on.

It sounds like your sister might need some support too so perhaps she might want to join this forum.

She can also phone MacMillan (see the number at the end of my post) and talk to someone who might be able to give more/better advice than myself.

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