Shell shocked

My Dad has told me that he has cancer in his pancreas and liver. He hasn’t been obviously ill and it has been found through investigations for something else. I don’t know how to begin to start dealing with this. I am truly heart broken and don’t know what to do for the best to support him and my Mum. 

I didn’t know where else to go for advice. 

 

  • Hi if he has had any scans or blood tests done you will have to wait for results so that they can work out best treatment for him it can take a while. Don't worry that's easy to say I know Dr's know what they're doing try and consontrate on something other than your dad it's hard I know but it will help I know main trouble is the waiting. Best of luck. 

    Billy 

  • Thank you for your kindness. That is exactly where we are... waiting... they haven’t said what the next steps are. I think I am still in denial at the moment- doesn’t seem real. I am really scared. I know I have to have faith as they are the experts but finding the unknown hard. 

  • Hello, I was very sorry to hear your news. The waiting is awful.  Once you have the bigger medical picture about what’s going on, you can gently begin to find a way through it. Uncertainty tends to be worse than actually having medical information, even if that information is hard to cope with, because when you don’t know for sure what a diagnosis might mean and what the path ahead will look like, your imagination goes wild. Having been in your situation, in my view the best way forward is to try not to jump ahead in your mind. Stick to the present moment, aim to get through each day in chunks, and little by little you will start to absorb the facts about your Dad’s diagnosis, and you will pull together as a family and support each other through it. Wishing you all the best x

  • Thank you. It is so reassuring that others understand and can give advice. Your words make so much sense and you are right... my mind is in overdrive imagining what the next few months might look like. It feels almost like I am in denial at the moment.

  • Really glad to have been able to help in a small way. I have only just joined the forum and I'm not sure how everything works yet, but I think it is possible to private message on here too, so if you ever want a more detailed chat I would be very happy to talk more. Take care of yourself. x

  • Thank you. You really don’t know how much that means right now x

  • No problem. I will add you as a friend then hopefully you will be able to message me directly any time you’d like to. And in the meantime, I hope it helps to remember that you certainly aren’t alone, and there is a lot of support available. All the best x