Feel really silly asking questions but any help and advice would be very much appreciated. My mum has colon cancer that has spread to the spine and nodules on the lungs. Mum is on Lonsurf and is on her 2 week break. Mum was sleeping quite a lot before treatment but more so now. Mum has gone off food she is eating very little. Is this normal? All advice and help appreciated.

Hello,

This sounds very much like what we went through last year. It's a difficult time especially when the cancer spreads and becomes terminal. I'm sorry to hear about this. I can talk you through what to expect and look out for and I can support you as much as I can as it is difficult and I wish I had more support at the time. After I posted this my mum ended up moving into a hospice and she passed away on the 7th February. Let me know if you would like my support or have any questions. I'm no professional but after experiencing it with my mum it sounds very similar. Spend as much quality time as you can and make as many memory's xxx

So, so sorry about your mum is it possible I could email you some questions from private email, I understand if not. Many thanks

Yes! Please do! i only wish when I was going through it that I had someone to talk to and help me and I know it's the right thing to do. Please do get in touch and il be as helpful as I can x

Hello Chriss,

                    you are correct in one sense that Hospice care is free to patient,however l think this relates to lack of funds raised from the public inhibiting the amount of care the hospices can provide.Covid has seriously damaged fundraising activities which supports Hospice and cancer charities,which in turn will have an impact on their ability to help with an increase in demand undoubtably bought about by delayed treatment leading to poorer outcomes in sufferers.This pandemic will just highlight how much cancer care is devolved to charities,and the damage caused by their inability to raise sufficient funds,

                                                                                                                                              David

You're right there David, we are experiencing this right now with my dad. They (Macmillan/Marie curie) haven't been very helpful to us, even though we had everything set up from day 1 to say my dad wanted hospice care when he was near the end, it's looking increasingly likely he will end up in a nursing home (he was living with us until he was hospitalised last week where things have progressed). 
 

We spoke to the District Nurse (who has been brilliant) and they said unfortunately they are seeing this more and more at the moment because of Covid. That's not to say the specialist nurses that came aren't nice (they really are) but basically when it's very near end of life there seems to be no real parameters for being taken in - other than you have to be 2 weeks from death. Not sure how you measure that, but we have been told that if he is taken in and doesn't die he will be taken back out. Realise there are finite resources but was not expecting this at such a stressful/hard time anyway. 
 

We've been fighting for about a fortnight now to try and get my dad the care he needs and deserves towards the end. 

Hope you get the help and care needed for your mum loomoo, the main thing to remember is that you're doing all you can and showing her how much you care by what you're doing. Xxxx