Hello LucyR, 

A warm welcome to our forum! I am sorry to hear you lost your mum at such a young age and that now one of your friend's dads has been diagnosed with cancer too. It's really hard especially if you are not very close to bring up the subject with your friend especially as you obviously would not want to be insensitive or make him feel like he might lose his dad. Perhaps you could phrase it in such a way that you simply share with him your own experience rather than telling him what you think he should do. If the opportunity arises in the conversation, you could talk about how you lost your mum at a very young age and how you would have liked perhaps to create more memories of her, to remember her in other ways than simply through those photos you have of her. It's difficult though to find the right words and also to find the right moment to talk about this. 

I hope that some of our members will have some good suggestions for you on what to say to your friend. It must be a very difficult time for him and I am sure he appreciates your support.

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator