Hello Coalcat2, 

Welcome to Cancer Chat! I am sorry to hear that your partner's cancer has come back and he is not allowed any further ear surgery. It's sad that he felt he had to end your relationship after that and feels that he would be a burden. It must be heartbreaking for you and I can imagine you are feeling powerless at the moment. As he is going on a long working holiday with his best friend, perhaps it would be best to give him some space at the moment whilst he is away as it sounds like he doesn't want to talk about this at the moment. You could let him know that he is welcome to reach out to you when he feels ready to do so and if he needs to offload at any point. 

I hope that you feel better about this soon - you have done everything you could to show him that you are there for him if he wants to keep in touch and talk about anything.

Some of our members may have had a similar experience in the past so I will let them come and share their thoughts with you on this. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator