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Keeping Dad positive

Jake74
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Hi,

After 2 years in remission, my Dad's lymphoma has come back and pretty aggresively this time. Treatment options appear to be limited now and are constantly delayed due to a run of side effects, additional complications or NHS funding barriers. We still have so much hope and he certainly hasn't given up but his positive attitude is slipping with each week that he spends in hospital.

I just wondered if people had any advice on how to keep him mentally positive and stimulated whilst being in hospital for so long. Friends and family visit him all the time, we keep him updated on the outside world and always manage to make him laugh. But recently he is struggling to lose hope and motivation and his frustration makes the phone calls and visits challenging. What will help him get through the days, I feel I am running out of options. There are only so many times you can tell someone to keep positive.

Thanks for any help.

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    Hello Jake and welcome to our forum,

    I am so sorry to hear that your dad's lymphoma has come back aggressively and that he has experienced treatment delays and additional complications. It can't be easy for him at the moment but you do seem to be a very supportive family and I am sure you are doing the right things being by his side, visiting him, keeping him informed on what is going on in the outside world and crucially making him laugh. Just carry on doing what you are doing I am sure he very much appreciates your presence, the phone calls and the visits. I don't think it is even necessary to tell him to keep positive as it may not always be something that he feels he can do at the moment, but simply being there for him and making him laugh as you are doing makes a big difference.

    I hope you will hear from others here who have also been in a similar situation before, looking after someone with cancer and trying to give comfort and support to a loved one during hospital stays. Sometimes it helps to talk about shared experiences and to feel that others have also been through what you yourself are going through.

    Best wishes,

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

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