Hi Rosie, 

A warm welcome to our forum. What a traumatic week it must have been to find out that your mum has stage 4 stomach cancer and I hope that it hasn't been too hard for you or had too much of an impact on the start of your university year. It's so sad too that your mum is bed bound and has been in hospital for a month and it's very nice of you to be there for your dad supporting him through this difficult time and making sure he is ok and resting. You will find on our website some helpful information for Friends, family and carers which will give you some good tips to help you support your parents but we also have in there a section on taking care of yourself which is crucial really as all this can take its toll on your physical and mental wellbeing. 

It must be truly heart-breaking for you to think about all those things she might not get to share with you and I can understand why you would want to know if you will have Christmas with her, if you could take her to Disney one last time. It can be really difficult for the medical experts to give you an accurate prognosis but do talk to them and ask them what they think. Most importantly, try and spend as much quality time with her as you can. I hope that she won't have to stay in the hospital for too long but it's important that they make sure she gets effective pain relief as she should not be left to suffer in silence. Is there anyone you could talk to at the hospital about this so that they are on top of the pain relief side of things? I would recommend you read our detailed information on cancer and pain control and if you have any questions on anything, don't hesitate to get in touch with our cancer nurses on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their helpline is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. 

You are definitely not alone Rosie and there are many others on this forum who find themselves in a very similar situation. I thought I would mention for example Jloubs 's thread about their dad's cancer which was posted just a couple of days ago - this member's dad has a large tumour in his abdomen which is untreatable and was feeling devastated so I think you two might perhaps be able to comfort one another. Don't hesitate to respond to their thread if you would like to share your story and if you feel like chatting to someone else in the same position. 

We're all here for you Rosie anytime you need to talk or offload - you're going through a really difficult experience at a time when you should be enjoying yourself and uni life but others on here will know exactly how you are feeling and will be along shortly I hope to share their own story with you. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator