new member Soccermum1 seeking support

As everyone has already said, your reactions are very normal. That said, how people cope with those reactions varies enormously. My mother was in her late 80s when I was diagnosed and in residential care. I had a great advantage in being able to talk to staff about how/if to tell her and benefitted greatly from their advice (yes, let her be part of it). I didn't burden her with too much detail but she was very supportive and the whole thing gave her a new lease of life! It's easy for friends and relatives to be reassured by an early diagnosis and good prognosis (and all of that is really good) but most cancer patients have a period (long or short) where their mortality smacks them in the face and usually finds them unprepared. I found it easier to concentrate on the business of treatment at first and deal with getting to grips with mortality a bit later, when I had got to grips with the idea and also realised that it wasn't imminent! Don't expect to be a resilient ray of sunshine! Take it all one step at a time, it's easy to be overwhelmed. I also benefitted from a short time with a smart, savvy counsellor - cancer can drag up a lot of stuff and while my issues were pretty straightforward (long term denial of ageing or death!!), relationships and past history can all get an unexpected revisit. A professional good counsellor can do what family often can't. Think of it as simple medicine for your mind/soul - you would do it in an instant for your body. Best wishes. PS 6 years on, still doing pretty well everything I used to, heading off on holiday soon. There is a life after a cancer diagnosis and it can be a very good one.