My lovely mum, our best friend, was diagnosed nearly 3 years ago with stage 4 lung cancer, tumour in lower right lobe, spread to lymphatic system in central chest and possible adrenal gland. She underwent chemo and immunotherapy. Was on chemo from June until October and then immunotherapy for 2 years. She did have some radiotherapy after the chemo as the tumour started to grow again. She also has severe COPD. I grieved for her in the first 6 months, thought we’d lose her by Christmas. She is still here today, nearly 3 years later, and has lived well, which is positive for anybody hearing the news for the first time.
She has been deteriorating a little, sleeping more, there was more growth in tumour so she is back on chemo just over a week ago, she started to get a little confused over the last week. We thought possible infection or problems with her brain. She’s had no scan of her brain since diagnosis. Anyway, last night our fears were confirmed and the cancer has spread to her brain. It’s so heartbreaking.
We have looked after her alone, myself and 2 sisters, we all work, families, but we made it work. We lost our dad a couple of years ago, he had dementia, so it has been incredibly hard. Both diagnosed early 70’s. My mum is a superwoman, she cared for dad whilst having chemo, due to Covid there was zero support from anywhere.
Going forward, we just don’t know how we can care for her, but there seems to be little support again. She lives alone, we can be there a lot but not 24/7. We worry she’ll be alone and have a seizure, we worry she’ll try to go upstairs to the toilet and fall, she’s unsteady on her feet. We’ve no idea how to manage it. What do others do? We’d love to keep her home.
Any advice would be appreciated
