My 50 y/o son has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Are my reactions/behaviour normal?

Hi everyone, my son was recently diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in January, 2 days before his 50th birthday and is receiving palliative  care.  He's my only child, we are a small family of his partner and 2 granchildren and that's it. He doesn't want to know how long he has left.

Having now processed this devasting news, I find I am very pragmatic about it and am thinking of the future when he's not here, of changing my will and LPA. Is this normal? He doesn't want too many people to know at the moment, doesn't want their sympathy, so spends most of his time indoors on his oxygen machine. We never have had a close relationship, so I don't see him on a regular basis, mainly because there's not a lot to talk about.  

  • Welcome to Cancer Chat Spanishswimmer although I'm very sorry to hear your son is currently receiving palliative care for terminal lung cancer.

    This must be a very difficult time for you and your family Spanishswimmer but we are sending you all our support and I'm sure some of our members, many of whom have contended with similar thoughts and emotions when supporting their loved ones on this journey, will be along soon to share their experiences and advice.

    We have a section about dying with cancer on our website that you may find helpful to look through but if you would prefer to talk about any of this with one of our cancer nurses, they're available on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m. They're very insightful and will do all they can to answer your questions and support you at this time.

    Just remember Spanishswimmer, there is no right or wrong way to feel or behave as everyone has their own ways of coping with such devastating news.

    Best wishes to you all, 

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator