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| Living With Cancer |
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If your parent is very ill
When someone is very ill from
cancer, we often call it 'advanced
cancer'. It can be that the cancer
has spread from where it started or
that the treatment has not managed
to get rid of all the cancer cells
or even to keep them under control
at the place it started. Sometimes,
if the cancer has been discovered
late - after it has been in the body
for a long while - the cancer can be
hard to treat and your parent might
be very ill even if it has just been
discovered.
Many cancers that are advanced can
still be treated in some way.
Sometimes though, advanced cancer
cannot be treated and you might be
told that your parent will never get
well again. If this is the situation
with your parent, it is likely that
they will give some treatment to
help your parent feel better and
maybe live longer. We often call
this kind of treatment ‘palliative
care’ or ‘palliative treatment’. The
types of treatment given will depend
on the type of cancer and where in
the body it is. It also depends on
the kind of problems that your
parent has in relation to the
illness.
If your parent's cancer is advanced, it can leave you feeling very scared. Admitting that you are scared is good as your parent and the whole family will probably be feeling the same way. Usually it feels better to share ones feelings and it keeps everybody from feeling alone.
It is also very common to get angry
in this situation and this is a
natural reaction when you feel that
your life is falling to pieces and
there’s nothing you can do about it. Most likely, your emotions and reactions will keep changing and you may feel that you need to be strong for yourself or your parent. This is very positive, but make sure that you also allow yourself to feel down sometimes and talk about your worries. It can be very exhausting to keep being strong all the time and it can stop you from talking to others about how you really feel when you have days and moments you feel more negative. It is important to remember, not to let the fear of the future win, but to make the most of what you have now.
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| | Types of Cancer | |  | | | Read about all of the various types of cancer>> |
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| | Mikey - aged 14 | |  | | | He’s finished his chemo now and it seems like he will be ok. As I write this he is sleeping on the couch.>> |
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