Hi Peakay and thanks for posting.

I'm sorry to hear about your friends and the difficult time they are having.

We have lots of information on our website about mental health and living with cancer, it may be useful for your friend to have a look at this. You can find it here.

I wonder if they have a specialist nurse who is a point of contact or who may have been supporting them with treatment?  Sometimes they may be called a palliative or Macmillan nurse. Their area of expertise is in the management of cancer symptoms, and they also provide emotional support to people living with cancer and their families.

You don't say where you are in the country, but often local hospices and Maggie's Centres and Macmillan Centre's attached to the local hospital can offer counselling and support to families.  Again the specialist nurse should be able to help them find these services.

I have provided some links from our website below which you or your friend may like to read.  There is quite a lot to take in at the moment, so you may want to come back to these pages later, when you have a few minutes.

There is a link here which can give you more information about the practical support that should be available to people at home.

There is some information here about coping with cancer which might be helpful for your friend and their family.

I hope this information is useful.

You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take Care

Rachel