Hello and thanks for posting

I’m sorry to read about your mother’s situation. This must be a difficult time for you both.

Body mass index can be an indicator of a patient’s eligibility for surgery and is often used by many surgeons for this purpose. According to the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) adults with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered to be within a healthy range.

Although age is not usually a barrier to having treatment, older people can have health conditions that might affect them having certain treatments.

After a cancer diagnosis patients are discussed within a MDT ( Multi Disciplinary Team) where all the specialists come together to decide the best course of action for each individual patient. The decisions are based upon the type and stage ( size and extent) of cancer and how fit and well they are and if they have any other health conditions that may affect them having treatment.

If your mother has surgery, it’s difficult to say exactly how long she will be in hospital for, because it depends on how she recovers from the surgery. But the average hospital stay is usually 5 to 10 days. 

I can appreciate you wanting to know more about her prognosis. Prognosis is really a question best answered by your mother's specialist. This is because they are familiar with all her medical details and will know so much more about her individual situation. Doctors base their assessment of someone's outlook/prognosis on their experience of looking after other patients with the same cancer. This will vary to a degree, depending on a person’s age, extent of their cancer, their general health and whether they able to have treatment and how the cancer responds to it. But it's important to bear in mind they cannot give exact timelines as cancer behaves differently in every person, but they can hopefully help you get a better sense of things. Doctors are happy to speak to relatives provided they have your mum's permission to do so.

I hope this has been of some use. Give us a ring if you would like to talk anything over. The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Best wishes,

Celene