Boyfriend's mum and dad not telling him about their health

I need some advice .

So my boyfriends mum and had have both had some health issues - I’ll start with mum 

my boyfriend told me that his mum had , had some sort of surgery for a cancer when he was about 13 but doesn’t know anything about it as his parents never tell him anything (presumably not to worry him) and I seen a letter on the kitchen table  regarding the surgery and the follow up appointments etc , as I am a Student nurse I know the medical terms and I have done placements on oncology wards and I know what surgery she had and what was to be removed (cancerous ) .

-dad 

His dad has had shakes ever since I’ve been with my boyfriend As mentioned earlier I am a student nurse and i picked up on it straight away, I was looking for a book in the cupboard and found a book relating how to live with Parkinson’s and I know he takes medication for Parkinson’s symptoms but my boyfriend is really naive and doesn’t think that he has it and that he just experiences shakes from time to time due to it being common term effect in his job.

i hate seeing them both hide things from him as My parents once hid a cancer scare from me and I’d never want that to happen to someone else as I felt so awful after finding out that I didn’t know , I don’t want to tell him as I know it’s not my place but I don’t know what to do as I feel like he should know.

any help would be much appreciated xoox 

  • Hi Elsxma,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. I understand this is an incredibly tough situation for you, and it's hard to know what the right thing to do is.

    It may depend on the relationship you have with your boyfriend's parents, and whether it's something you can discuss with them - but of course if they don't know you know then that is also hard. Is your boyfriend's mum going through any treatment or concerns now or was it all in the past? If it's in the past, it might suggest better to leave it in this case.

    I would also recommend seeking advice from some people close to you, as well as the people on here. If you have any close friends or family you could speak to, that may help - so it's not just you making the decision on your own.

    I hope that helps a little and hopefully some others will be along here soon for any further advice.

    Wishing you all the best.

    Ben

    Cancer Chat Moderator