So I was away on holiday when I got a call from a relative saying dad had been in hospital then came the shocker suspect Cancer if the lungs , I had to finish my holiday but couldn’t enjoy it really , came home to further hear that there’s shadow in the lungs and the brain , I went numb that day , the second day I felt like I had delayed shock and very shaky , dads come home for a bit I’m guessing on a virtual ward and with oxygen whilst we wait for Pet scan results, and acting as though everything is normal but I’m struggling to motivate myself to do anything or talk to anyone, it’s only 7 months since I lost my mum to a long battle with Alzheimer’s I was there when she died this is just awful
Hello Gino01
I am very sorry to hear that you had a phone call from a relative, while you were on holiday, saying that they suspect maybe a Lung cancer. It must have been a real shock to come home and hear that there's a shadow on Dad's lungs and brain.
Feeling numb and then feeling delayed shock and being shaky are all normal reactions to having bad news. It can also be hard to motivate yourself when waiting for and worrying about the PET scan results. I hope that these do not take too long to come back. My advice from personal experience is to try to go with the flow as much as you can, understand that there is no right or wrong way to feel and to reach out to others when you need to.
What would normally happen is when the results come back Dad would be invited in to talk about them and what the next steps are. The next steps may be further testing or treatment.
In the meantime if you are worried about Dad at all there should be a contact number on a discharge letter from the hospital that he was in. If not then please call his GP if you are concerned and he will be able to contact the hospital direct or check him.
I can understand that it must be hard to go through this so close to losing Mum.
The waiting time during diagnosis is really hard. I found in my case though once I had a firm diagnosis and a plan for the next steps I did feel a bit more in control.
If you feel like it would help to talk it through with someone, there is a phone number for the Macmillan support line at the bottom of this and they are lovely on there.
Jane
No problem, please get in touch if there is anything that we can do to support you, your Dad or the rest of your family
