Linitus Plastica - what to expect?

[chele510]

My mum was diagnosed with a rare type of stomach cancer this week called linitus plastica. We were told that it’s too advanced for any treatment to be effective in curing her and the only option to give her more time is chemo. However she has COPD as well which we all believe would mean chemo would be worse for her as she’d probably end up with pneumonia.

The hospital gave her some literature that says people with stomach cancer can have their whole stomach removed. We, and she, can’t understand why this hasn’t been offered due to the fact that the cancer hasn’t spread outside the stomach apart from into two lymph nodes. I suspect it’s because of the COPD and the complications that may cause.

Id also like to know what to expect, she’s only 60 and so far apart from vomiting and some weight loss she’s not what you’d call ill so it’s hard to think that she’s going to go from what she is now to extremely ill in a few months. How do people cope with this? At the moment I’m an emotional rollercoaster, the main emotion I’m feeling is anger. I’m the eldest of 7 kids and we’re all trying to be strong but we’re all fighting our own battles with our emotions. One of my brothers is just broken and angry with the world and we all feel that when we lose mum we’re going to lose him too. If anyone has any experience with this cancer please get in touch. I need to know how to help mum and how to help my siblings get through this.