Hi Elizabeth-S, 

I am so sorry to hear that your elderly mum has been diagnosed with leukaemia and it must be distressing for you to know that the treatment that is being offered and which she is going to go for might either improve or make things worse. Not knowing in advance how she will react to treatment must be really hard for you but as you say if she had no treatment, the outlook would not be great and you have to just go with her decision. It's good that she isn't in any pain but I can imagine you are worried about how treatment might affect her especially if she has always been very independent. It's so nice of you to want to offer family support and to not want her to suffer - it's normal to feel a little powerless in situations like this and I am sure many members of our community will be able to relate to how you are feeling at the moment and I hope that they will be along shortly to share their experiences with you. We have information on our website for Family, Friends and Carers which I hope you will find inspiring and which will help you support a loved one with cancer. 

Wishing her the best of luck with the treatment - I hope that it will be effective and that it will improve things greatly for her. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator