Hello Lee24,

Welcome to Cancer Chat.

I'm sorry to hear about your mum's diagnosis and how this is affecting you. I can understand how difficult it has been to support her, especially during this pandemic. Phone or video calls are not the same as in person, but I hope they can help in some way. Please try to be kind to yourself and look after your wellbeing, you're doing all you can for your mum. There are some tips and advice for supporting a loved one with cancer here, which might be useful to you.

If you'd like to speak to one of our cancer nurses, they're available on the freephone 0808 800 4040. Lines are open from Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.

Best wishes to you,

Moderator Anastasia

Hi Lee24

Sorry to read about your mum - there is a lot to take in and a lot for her to go through over the next few weeks to work out the best course of action.

What you are going through, emotion wise, is normal and understandable.  In many ways it is worse for the family than the diagnosed as there is a feeling of helplessness and other swearwords that I'm not allowed to post.

At this stage, just being there to talk to, to rant at, to shout at, to curse and sometimes none of the above is fantastic.  We all deal with this in our own way and I imagine that your mum will be feeling lost and bewildered by all of the information.

If I may be so bold - come over to the https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-chat/thread/osophagus-cancer-diagnosis.

There are a range of people at various stages of what we laughingly call the journey that nobody wants to be on and include people like myself who were diagnosed (stage 3 also) 11 months ago and have gone through the chemo, surgery and more chemo regime (6 1/2 months since the op and 3 months since my last chemo cycle) and also others who are supporting family members.

cheers

bfg

Thank you for your kind words. I'm fortunate enough to have a strong support network, but will definitely research some wellbeing tips. Your response is much appreciated, thank you 

Thank you so much for your reply. Sometimes it's good to talk with people I don't know, although I am new to this. I will definitely check out that thread. Sending you all the best and sincerely hope you're well.