hello all! this is super weird to me, i’ve never made a post like this before but i need all the advice anyone can give me. 

In short, my mum (51) was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2021, and had a double mastectomy. She was in remission but last year was diagnosed with cancer once again. Rounds and rounds of chemo, radio, medication, obviously followed but we got the news on Friday that the cancer is now in her brain, and is inoperable. My mum has less than a year. 

I (16) have two sisters, one 18 nearly 19, and one is 14. Two years, two months apart lol! My older sister is much closer to my mum than i could ever dream to be, and the younger seems to be in the same boat as me. In typical middle child fashion i never seemed to be noticed by my mother, but my younger sister had a very volatile relationship with her. My mum would often call her bratty, spoilt, or flat out tell her she was hard to like. My mum is not the woman my older sister thinks she is. 

My sisters both cried when we got the news on friday, i couldn’t bring myself to until i was back in my room alone. I can tell my younger sister is deeply hurt and going through some anticipatory grief, we are very close, she knows everything about me, she has seen my whole soul. She hasn’t cried infront of me since, but she hasn’t come and sat by me the way she usually would. We would always spend hours and hours together every night, we would laugh, play cards, and just be kids! But today it’s been like she can’t break the threshold into my room. i’m so so so scared for her because i know i’m the only person who would notice this change, it seems so apparent to me but entirely regular for everyone else. 

I’ve never found a mother in my mum but i know she has. How can i help her through this final year, and the ones that will follow?