Hi Everyone
I'm new here and I'm a bit unsure where to start.
My Mum went to A&E last week for servere shortness of breath, unexpectedly they found a large mass on her lung and was given a cancer diagnosis. After many scans, they said they have found something on the liver and lymph nodes (awaiting biopsy results). Our world has turned upside down, we can't believe this is happening to us, to our Mum who is 56.
We haven't been given much information, we don't know what the next steps are. She has a lung function test on Friday. The waiting is absolutely awful. I don't know how to help her, she isn't sleeping and just looks absolutely exhausted. I would hate to think what is going through her mind, I wish I could take it all away.
Hi Frey0329 welcome to the group, but sorry to hear about your mum. It is terrifying to hear that a loved one has cancer. The next few weeks are going to feel very scary, and there may be times when you all feel in limbo, waiting for results and for treatment to start.
There are a couple of pieces of advice I would like to share with you and your mum. Firstly do not google your mums condition. The internet is very outdated when it comes to cancer and treatments and only ever shows the worst case scenarios. Lung cancer treatments have come a vey long way in recent years, and there are lots of us now who are living long lives on treatment. It is actually my lung cancer anniversary today, 10 years ago today I was told my cancer had come back and was in both lungs. If you click on my profile picture you can go to my profile page and read my story.
Secondly mum will see lots of doctors or consultants in the coming days or weeks. For instance she may speak to her GP and She will see a respiratory consultant for her lung function test. All of these doctors are experts in their fields, but they are not oncologists. They can give their opinions on mums diagnoses and what the treatment may be, but it is the oncologist who will responsible for mums treatment and is the only one trained in this field. I was given some really poor information at the beginning of my diagnoses from both the GP and the respiratory doctor, who both wrote me off at the start. It may be a couple of weeks until your mum meets the oncologist as they only step in once they have all of the test results in front of them.
This is a very scary time for you all. Please do come here to chat when you need too. The macmillan support line is also available 7 days a week from 8am until 8pm on 0808 808 00 00.
Hi Robert1 I am sorry to hear about your recent diagnoses, and your previous prostate diagnoses. That is a lot for you to be dealing with in one year. I hope you are doing ok.
