So we were so happy with the news we had been given about how successful dad’s Chemo had been, and with how well he was doing in himself! We were managing to get out & about more. We were going to cafes for lunch and we went to the local park where dad managed to walk around with minimal breathlessness.
Dad had actually mentioned to the oncologist during his consultation that he felt ever so slightly breathless again, but we all put it down to being anxious about waiting for the results of the CT and what it was going to show. The oncologist offered to repeat a chest X-ray but after discussion, we all agreed to monitor the breathlessness and if it didn’t improve then dad was to get back in touch with the hospital. Dad continued complaining of the breathlessness for the next 2 weeks. I was sure it was anxiety after everything he had been through. He certainly didn’t look any more breathless. We had just had this fantastic news so it couldn’t possibly be more than anxiety! However, as we were nearing 2 weeks after the consultation with the oncologist, his breathlessness was getting more & more apparent.
Dad’s GP came out to see him and sent him to A&E for further investigations. They kept him in overnight because they wanted to exclude a PE and cardiac causes. So the next day, they did a CT scan as they thought it was most probably a PE. That teatime, the lung cancer nurse came to give us the results. The results took us all by surprise. We could not believe what we were hearing. There was no PE. Phew! However, the cancer had doubled in size since his last scan 4 weeks earlier. We got dad home out of hospital within an hour. The best place for dad was to be at home. We saw the oncologist a few days later for the next plan of action. We were hoping and praying that there was more treatment that could be offered but nothing was certain.
The oncologist explained that when the cancer grows so quickly after the chemo, research has actually shown that in the majority of cases it’s because the cancer has become resistant to the chemotherapy and that the cancer had probably started growing again after his 3rd chemo session. This meant dad could not have any further chemotherapy. His options were fewer. Luckily they offered dad immunotherapy. This was fantastic news!! We were so relieved. The immunotherapy basically boosts the immune system to attack the cancer cells. The only downside is that it doesn’t happen immediately. It can take a few weeks to start working. We just had to pray it would work for dad, and quickly.
Somewhere amongst all of this, my mum had had a letter from the breast screening service. She had an appointment to attend her breast screening. With everything that was going on, I thought that mum might defer her screening until dad was a little better again. However, she decided to attend her breast screening appointment.
Everything that happened from this point is a complete blur to me and I cannot remember the order in which everything occurred so please bear with me.
Dad’s breathlessness was getting progressively worse. I arranged with the lung cancer nurse for dad to attend the cancer care ward for an assessment of his breathlessness. It turned out that his oxygen levels were dipping really low when he was walking so he needed home oxygen. This was arranged and dad went home the same day.
Mum received a letter from the breast screening service recalling her for further investigations as her initial screening had been abnormal. Dad’s 1st immunotherapy was coming up. Mum’s appointment to the breast screening was the same day as dad’s immunotherapy. Mum went with dad for his immunotherapy and left him there with my brother. I took mum for her breast screening appointment at a hospital in a different city. Dad was distraught that he couldn’t go with mum and was constantly texting me asking what was going on. Mum needed an ultrasound and then a biopsy. The breast screening nurse told us that they were almost certain that mum had breast cancer but we had to wait for the results of the biopsy to be 100% sure. One thing for sure was that it had been caught early. A positive thing at least! We had an appointment to go back for the results of the biopsy the week after.
When we got home, dad was devastated at the news, as we all were. How was it possible for both my parents to have cancer at the same time? Why was this all happening to us? What had we done wrong to deserve this? I was so grateful that mum had gone for her breast screening when she could easily have deferred it with everything that was going on with dad. She had no lump, no symptoms. She was otherwise clueless about her cancer.
The day of the results came for mum and the biopsy had confirmed breast cancer. She was being referred back to our local hospital for a mastectomy due to the size of the tumour but it was thought to be very early stages still. I attended the appointments with mum to see her consultant and for her pre-assessment. We were given a date for her surgery.
Mum’s cancer has reinforced to me how important it is to attend the national screening program appointments. We all have busy lives and can easily make excuses not to attend but at the end of the day, the screening has been put into place for a reason. It doesn’t take long to attend appointments so I urge you to attend. We are very lucky to have the screening programme on the nhs. It really does save lives. So please please attend those appointments! Whether it be breast screening, cervical screening, bowel screening or any other screening that you might be offered. Like I said in one of my first posts – we all think we won’t get cancer, but we easily could do. We don’t always get symptoms until the cancer is more advanced. Breast screening could have saved my mum’s life! I am so grateful for that!
Cancer journey - a relatives perspective 