Hello everyone. Am struggling at moment. Dad was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer last week. He was taken straight in to hospital and since then we have found out it has spread to his bones and adrenal glands.

Regarding the bones the tumour is about to cause spinal cord compression, so he is having an operation today to put pins and plates in to support the spine.

My emotions are all over the place.  My Dad will be 80 on Boxing day.  He has only come down to live near me in the past year after everyone else left and moved on in his home town of Manchester. It has not been an easy year as he was very depressed. I am just so emotionally unstable. I'm sad, irritable, relieved Dad is here and not living 80 miles away, lonely and finding I'm just obsessed with keeping busy.  On top of that I have just lost a very close friend of 30 years to Mesothelioma. Eddie died on 7th November after 8 months in and out of hospital.

I just want to make things the best they can be. I am on my own a lot of the time as my daughter is at uni in Birmingham and works there too, so not home a lot. I've gone through a divorce and moved from the family home of 30 years to a new place.

I look forward to getting to know you and to sharing this journey. Bless all of you who are experiencing this condition first hand I wish you and your families the warmest Christmas you can have.