My mum: dealing with dreams

Hi all, my mum bless her soul is dealing with secondary breast cancer and has been receiving treatment for a few years now. Recently she’s been sleeping in a lot longer needing help to take off her bra, just normal everyday tasks. I’m 21 and live at home with her, my dad and my 16 year old sister.

last year my ex partners younger brother received palliative care to which I was present and I think that despite being able to get a better understanding about the end and grief, it’s definitely made me very anxious for when my mum does eventually leave us. It’s very hard to navigate everything and often find that if I think on it too much it just creates a whirl wind of strange feelings and thoughts (almost abit existential).

as of recently I’ve been having some quite distressing dreams, mostly about end of life care but each time it’s someone closer to me passing, or even if it’s not the main dream theme it’ll be someone that I’ve gotten to know leaving/ moving somewhere else. Definitely a bit of a theme of abandonment hahaha. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar? I tried briefly mentioning it to my family but unfortunately it makes my mum upset (completely understandable) and my sister tells me I shouldn’t be talking to the family about those kinds of things: either keep it to myself or talk to friends. I know that this isn’t a therapy website but it’s definitely a bit of a lonely situation to try and grasp and it would be nice to hear/ talk to people that can understand even if they don’t have advice.

hope your all having a lovely day 

  • Hello young climber

    The whole purpose of this forum is therapy in one way or another. Reducing anxiety depression and fear by talking about our situations and supporting each other through shared experiences or information on cancer with invaluable support from the nurses.

    What you are experiencing day to day and in your dreams is entirely normal. It is anticipatory grief where your mind is preparing you for what may come. It essential to talk about your feelings and if you cannot share them with friends and family here is a good place to come. Look after your own health by eating properly, getting excercise, fresh air and adequate sleep to give you strength to deal with life.

    Ed

  • Hi Youngclimber21, I'm the mother of an amazing daughter who, just like you, has been here to help me through my breast cancer. I know she's frightened by it all and anxious about me, and I'm aware it takes a toll on her. That's only natural, but it's not healthy for her, so we've been looking into help that she can access. https://www.maggies.org/support-information/supporting-someone-cancer/caring-supporting-someone-with-cancer/ and https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/supporting-someone are two useful pages that talk about help that's available for you and how to find it. 

    You're going through a lot and there's help there for you, people to talk to, to share your feelings with, practical and financial help too, if you need it. And you can always talk here. Take care and I hope this helps.