Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be devastating for any individual and their family and feelings of fear, anger, loneliness and guilt can be expressed at varying levels of intensity and at different times along the disease trajectory, from diagnosis and beyond.
Now consider dealing with these emotions alongside the extra layer of complexity that the disease being treated has a poor prognosis – how do you absorb information, keep your sanity and consent to therapy when your mind has thousands of tabs open and no answers to close any of them down? Or you simply shut down and cannot take in anything being said to you – how can you be this sick when you don’t feel that unwell?
As Clinical Nurse Consultant for patients with primary CNS tumours, a significant number of my patients start life in the cancer world with some of the poorest prognosis in Oncology. Using real scenarios and quotes from patients that I have had the pleasure of working with over the last 10 years, I will explore some of the differing situations I have experienced and how my role as specialist cancer nurse has supported patients and their families at such a vulnerable time of their lives.