Deep breath!

Hi there,

First time I've ever thought about doing this, so here goes. I'm a 26 year old female with three brothers aged 25, 23 and 20. My mum, 54, was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in July last year. She was healthy, and noticed a lump. It turned out to be two tumours with lymph node involvement, including a supraclavicular node. For that reason, it was considered an early stage IV, grade 3.

She had six cycles of dose dense AC followed by another six cycles, a mastectomy and lymph node clearance and then more chemo. She then had five weeks of daily radiotherapy which she finished three weeks ago.

Last week, she got a migraine. Not unusual - she has always had them. But it didn't go away. She went to hospital and a few CT scans later we were told she has six lesions on various parts of her brain that are mets.

The onc confirmed what Google has told me about the poor prognosis for multiple brain mets. She starts ten days of WBRT on Monday. Even so, we're talking about months to live.

I can't quite believe it. Mum is not yet aware of the timeframe, and we're glad about that. She will know soon enough, and the GP/onc have confirmed it's a good thing not to say anything while she's undergiong treatment.

I'm not sure what I'm looking for here... someone to talk to? I'm worried about my Dad, my brothers, how I'm practically meant to function when all I can think about is how I want to be with my mum while she's living and dying. I still need my mum; who stops needing their mum?! How am I meant to say goodbye to her?? My heart is breaking.