Fear of the same fate as my Dad

Hi all you lovely people

My dad passed away from a rare aggressive cancer called bile duct cancer. I find it scary as he was only 56 and had very little symptoms till it was to late. Once diginosed he only had 3 months with us till he died in May this year. I am having a hard time coping with his loss and on top of this I am convinced I have this cancer I sometimes think I am stupid and selfish to be focusing on myself more than my dad or other people in my family. I know being 20 my chances are slim but I convinced I am the unlucky one. My mum had tyroid cancer in her 30s but she got the all clear and the cancer has not returned in more than 10 years. I am not as scared of this cancer as it has a higher survival rate. I am constantly trying to plan my life under the assumption I will meet the same fate as my dad. But then I get scared because my plan gets thrown off as I fear I will die earlier. I was bullied a lot as a child and I fear that for the majority of my life I will have been unhappy if I die now. I have had a cold recently and I have been coughing up flem but I am scared that coughing is the start of the cancer like it was for my dad. My dad was also super fit and didn't smoke so I can't pin point something to not do.

Thank you for reading xxx

Lucy 

  • Hi Lucy, 

    I can't offer any advice but I do understand how you feel.

     

    My Dad was a few years older than yours and also super fit until his sudden Cancer diagnosis, and sadly he died within a few months of the initial diagnosis, he'd always been fit and healthy, never smoked, so it has really rocked my world, the devastating loss of my Dad and wondering "why" he had cancer.

    Its also left me wondering and worrying if this is hanging over me too.

  • Hi Please speak to your gp or a specialist nurse eg Macmillan. They can reassure you of the likelihood of genetic.probability etc. My husband is in a similar position and his gp has assured him that from the age of 40 they'll be super alert to any symptoms plus regular ultrasounds after a significant family history of pancreatic cancer. Sorry to hear of your loss - it is very hard but we have lost 3 parents relatively young (in their 50s) now And it does get easier with time. Just allow yourself to grieve it is heathy to cry and normal to feel very sad for quite some time x