I haven't had to deal with the brain tumour or anything like that, but I did have thyroid cancer at about your mum's age - I was just turned 39 when diagnosed - and that isn't really the worst case in the world, to quote my surgeon.

I realise your mum is dealing with a lot more besides, but just wanted to reassure you that thyroid cancer really isn't what you imagine when you hear cancer. At the age your mum and I are, the most common form of thyroid cancer has a near 100% survival rate and they don't usually use anything like chemotherapy, so it's unlikely she will be having ongoing treatment for it. It is usually just a matter of removing the thyroid and then possibly radioiodine treatment, which is basically just swallowing a capsule. You may need to help out with younger siblings for a couple of weeks after that, as she will have to isolate from young children for a while as she will be radioactive. It's just for their protection and that is assuming she even needs radioiodine treatment, which she may not.

My treatment basically involved a week in hospital to have my thyroid removed, then another 3 or 4 weeks off work, but even then, I was mostly fine by the time I got out of hospital, just couldn't carry heavy stuff, my voice was a bit weak and couldn't fully turn my head (I'm a teacher so you can see why these things are necessary), then the radioiodine treatment some months later, which meant three days in hospital but that was only because I had to isolate - I was fine.

Again, I do realise your mum's situation is different but just wanted to give you some information about thyroid cancer.

Thank you so much for your response, that has definitely calmed me down a little! 
We knew about the thyroid cancer first and actually almost accepted it as everything we'd heard and read suggested it was pretty simple to treat and my mum would most likely be fine. I think the brain tumour just shocked us and because we just found out about the thyroid, it just felt a little much. 

My mum had an appointment today and the doctor told us it was most likely T3 but there were nodules in her lungs which they aren't sure if it's the cancer or something else so will need to follow up with another scan in a few months but stage three just sounds scary. I'm just hoping it is a case of just removing both tumours and she'll be fine but it's just going to be a rough couple of months ahead and it's very frightening to think about! 
 

Again, thank you for your response it's nice to see you've overcome it and doing well now! 

I think T3 is different from stage 3. It wasn't a term that was used with me but from the googling I did, I think T3 just means the tumour is larger than 4cm, which would have made my tumour T3 but it was stage 1. 

As far as I know (and I could be wrong about this) at your mum's and my age, most thyroid cancers are stage 2 if there is spread outside the neck (like to the lungs) and stage 1 if there is not.

I hope all goes well for your mum. I am sure it's a really worrying situation for you both.

Hi,

Thank you so much for your reply, it's definitely made me feel a little better about the whole situation. It's just the waiting that's bothering me you know, we have no idea when she'll be in for surgery yet or how it will go I just want to skip ahead to her being fine and healed! 
 

Oh well- hopefully all will be well and thank you again for the reassurance ️

Hello, 

Yes you were right- doctor said it's difficult to stage at this point and they'll only really know when it's out. It's just a T3 based on size so hopefully no spread but only time will tell.
Thank you for your response ️