Hello ! Mum diagnosed with lung cancer

Hi there welcome to the group but sad you find yourself here because of your mum’s diagnosis…. How sad that she received the news in a letter , that’s most unusual as it’s normally delivered face to face and then confirmed by letter later… there is lots of support out there , on the macmillan web site that’s there for you or your mum in these next few weeks … and of course someone on here is usually here if you want to just chat . Elly x

Thank you EllyB for your lovely message. We were kind of told at a previous appointment but not really the severity of the illness. To send it to an elderly patient to read it in black and white shocked me especially after she gave it to me to read. Thankfully I’m not sure she fully understood it but sadly I did x 

hello ,i cannot understand why your mum received this diagnoses in a letter ,this is usually done face to face with a consultant and a nurse ,this is the way i was informed after having a PET scan ,I would be furious if this was my mum .I do hope you find comfort on here from people who are going through similar things

evening my daddy also 81 is stage 4 lung was told in April had to get tap in side to drain fluid from pheral (spelt wrong ) sack which takes it toll on him . Daddy goes Tuesday for bloods and consultation as starting chemo on Wednesday , daddy has spots on pelvis spine and rib but the tumor its self has not grown .Its hard on my mummy but wer all pulling are weight with parents .

Hi! It is appalling indeed when this happens and it is no doubt traumatic for the patient and others (meaning there is some permanent psychological damage). In our case, my 75 year old dad got a phone call the day of my mum's PET scan and he mistakenly woke my mom up to tell her she had metastatic lung cancer (up to that point, all we knew was of a mass showing on a CT scan). That turned out to be only partially correct and whilst she does have lung cancer, it has not spread. We had been promised the PET scan result would be communicated face to face (which would have avoided misunderstanding and miscommunication). Under the circumstances, events like these, including the dry letter your mum received, make it harder for lung cancer patients to bounce back. There should be a watch dog that we can report such matters, so that the industry model for this changes and poor behaviour is discouraged. Wishing you and your mum good strength and positive vibes.