My mom called this morning to let me know that she has been told she has lung cancer, and because of the location (upper left lung), they're calling it Stage 3. I don't even know what that means - is lung cancer always called stage 3? This is all such a new thing to my family! And, of course, very unexpected since mom is a non-smoker. She lives in Oklahoma, and I live in Colorado, but I was visiting when this whole thing started and was able to go with her to her first appt with the pulmonologist and see her CT scan. We were originaly told the suspicious spot was about 1 inch, but it looked a bit larger than that to us when we saw it.
At any rate, I joined this group primarily for help in knowing how to support my parents. My husband has already told me I can and should go see them as much as I want, with or without the kids. Since I homeschool the kids, I have a lot of flexibility to take them with me or leave them home with their dad. I don't want the only times I see my mom in the next year to be when she is undergoing chemo, but I also don't want to be a stress by visiting too frequently.
I have probably rambled a little too much here, but I think this group understands when you don't really know what to say. It's encouraging to see many survivors here, and since my mother-in-law is a cancer survivor as well, I have a lot of hope.