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Overwhelmed - husband has terminal prostate cancer and I've just come through my own journey with lung cancer

Stait
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Oh gosh where to begin?

5 years ago my long time partner/husband was told he had terminal prostate cancer. He has been pottering along since then gradually with treatment changes. Last March I was told I had aggressive lung cancer and had open lung surgery in July 2024. I could not tolerate chemo or immunotherapy. I've been left with brain fog and fatigue. By March 2025 I was told I was in the clear and to test again in August.

Meanwhile my husband has become really unwell and unable to do very much. 

My thing is that I'm struggling to manage everything. Our children are great. And full of love and support but they have families of their own. So limited.

At last with some dragging of feet my husband agreed to get help from palliative care and help to manage his pain. 

I feel that I have had no chance to process my own cancer journey. I'm going to accept counselling I think. Any thoughts?

  • Hi Stait,

    Welcome to Cancer Chat. It sounds like you are dealing with a lot, and I understand that you must have had limited time to process this.

    It's good to hear that you are looking into counselling - I'm sure this would be a good opportunity to have some time for you to talk things through and to help with processing things, which can be really difficult to do day-to-day. It also often helps to speak to someone who is more neutral, as opposed to those who are close to you.

    I hope that the care team can provide some help for your husband - and in turn for you.

    I also hope that this forum can be of some small support to you. We are always here if you need it - to write things down and reach out to others. Hopefully you'll get more replies to your post here soon. You can also use the search bar at the top of the page to find other relevant discussions and people to connect with, if you'd like to.

    Wishing you all the best,

    Ben
    Cancer Chat Moderator

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