I'm increasingly thinking i'm going to lose my mum because she's stuck on waiting lists and there are no secretaries left to answer phones and act on paperwork. It's breaking me. We know she has a nasty cancer. Her symptoms are progressing but noone is helping to get pre AMS requirements done. She needs my organisational skills to do it, but i'm so wrung out constantly talking to answering machines to no avail.
Hi KMac82
I am sorry to hear that your Mum has had a diagnosis of cancer and I understand what a worrying time it must be for you both. I know with my own cancer (endometrial) that there was a time between diagnosis and treatment that I wasn't really aware of what was going to happen and when and it was a difficult time. Once I knew what the treatment would be and when it was likely to happen, it did feel more in control.
I wonder whether where there is difficulty in working out where the primary cancer may have originated from that things may be delayed a bit longer- perhaps a bit more testing. I remember with my cancer I did not know who to contact and it sort of felt that I wasn't getting any real answers from anyone.
What I did was to contact my GP and she was able to contact the hospital directly (through an internal email/phoneline) and chase things up and clarify things for me. I wonder if this would be an option for Mum. Just to get an update about what is happening behind the scenes. For me it was the not knowing and also the wanting to get treatment as soon as possible - that was the difficult part.
With Mum's symptoms progressing it would not also hurt to outline these to her GP and that as well may help with getting an update.
Supporting someone with cancer can feel isolating and is not easy- do please give the Support Line a call if it would help to talk things through with someone. They are lovely on there and are available from 8am-8pm every day. I do hope that you can get some clarification soon about treatment plans etc and that Mum can get started as soon as possible.
Jane
