My mum died of cancer just over 5 years ago - one of those sudden unexpected types where she was already at stage 4 at the time of diagnosis, too poorly for treatment and sadly died three months later. She was my best friend and my grief was immense,. The pain is less acute now, but I still have a big hole in my heart that will never be filled.
Now I find history about to repeat itself. My younger sister had pnuemonia in February and was supposed to have a chest x ray, it was delayed so only happned last Thursday but no one informed her of the result. She ended up in A&E a few days later due to pain, swollen tummy and feet. The guy she saw happened to look at the x ray that was taken a few days before and said he didn't like the look of it. He booked her in for a full body scan the following Tuesday and she got the results the same day. She was told it was serious, there was a mass on her right lung with possible spread to lymph nodes, liver and bones. She is now waiting for a bronchoscopy and is booked in for next Thursday and will get the results a week later. They tried to get her an appointment this week, but they only run the clinic one afternoon a week and it was fully booked this week. So we still have another two weeks to wait for things to be confirmed.
She has lost a lot of weight, is hardly eating or drinking and is spending most of her time in bed because she is so weak and fatigued. Part of the eating problem is due to the swellling in her abdomen (ascites), the latter is also causing problems with breathing and mobility. She can only lie in one position that is pain free. No one seems to be addressing the ascites and feels like she has just been left to cope until she has a confirmed diagnosis.
I have read that malignant ascites is end stage cancer and the prognosis is very poor. How can this be when she was more or less ok several weeks ago? She has had a few niggly things since January but nothing that would have suggested she had stage 4 cancer!
I feel like I have been transported back to 2016 when my mum died. I know we don't have any final diagnosis yet and don't know what treatment options might be available (and doctors don't always get the life expectancy thing right)....but at the moment things don't look good.
She is thinking of trying CBT.
She has a good positive attitude and has always been a bit of a determined fighter. She also has a tremendous amount of love and support around her and all of this helps.
Apologies for the long post, but sharing these things helps others who may be going through something similar.
x
Ps I lost my dog a couple of weeks ago too and am currently grieving for her, yet another hole left in my heart.
