Dad diagnosed with rare blood cancer - AML. He's been rejected for treatment back home. I feel so helpless. What can I do?

Dad is diagnosed with AML, complicated with lung tumour, doctor said he will not live longer. This disease at an old age is fatal. We still have some hope he may live if given good care and advanced CAR-T therapy. However this treatment is not available back in my country. I feel helpless and being so far away from him in the UK. The treatment is costly. Government funded hospital rejected to treat him. 

  • Welcome to the forum Neetu_09, although I'm sorry to hear about your dad. This must be a very difficult time for you both.

    If it's possible, maybe your dad could try getting a second opinion at another hospital. Or, depending on his financial situation and ability to travel, he could try and access treatment in another country. We have some information about cancer treatment for overseas patients on our website, but if it would help to discuss this further with one of our cancer nurses, they're available on 0808 800 4040. Although the phone lines are closed today, our nurses are usually available Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m. They're very insightful and will do all that they can to help.

    Being so far away from your dad whilst this is going on must be very tough, but you are not alone as some of our members have been in a similar situation with their loved ones so they will fully understand what you're going through and hopefully some of them will stop by soon to share their experiences and advice.

    In the meantime, we are here for you Neetu_09 and sending all our support your way.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator