Awake and worried about elderly mum

[mermaid101]

Sorry I can’t sleep and am looking for some advice and reassurance about my mum who is 80.
She has recently fully recovered from stage 3 breast cancer which was first diagnosed about two year ago. She’s had chemo, herception and a mastectomy and about 6 months ago got the all clear.

since then she has continued to feel very tired, possibly increasingly so. Last month while we were away on holiday (uk) she had an episode of vomiting with no other symptoms which we thought might be mild food poisoning. It took her about three days to recover. A similar thing has happened this month. She also has a noticeably decreased appetite although no weight loss.

im so worried that there is something seriously wrong again and that after getting through this breast cancer she now had something else equally serious. I will advise gp asap, but right now I feel very scared and worried and would be so grateful for any replies

Getting over cancer at 80 is a thing on its own , the after affects of the treatment takes a long time , we who are older take longer to heal , maybe a while before mum gets better. If the sickness carry on as you say see the gp , it's ok l am awake as l lost my dearest to dimentia in feb this year nothing like your mum , have patience things will get better but it takes time to heal .

I am 82 and had the same about 5 years ago and am ok now .As lively as a 82 year can be

Thanks so much for replying x

i kind of feel like she is less well than she was say about six months ago. We had a check up with her breast cancer consultant earlier this week and all seemed ok and they didn’t thibk the tiredness was anything to worry about but my mum feels it is significant. She is a very active person and she feels it is unusual. I’m just so concerned about this sickness. It’s unlike her and I’m not convinced it’s food poisoning as both times it’s occurred when we were out to eat and everyone else was fine.

what caused your bouts of sickness if you don’t mind me asking?

thank you so much for replying. I’m a very anxious person and you have made me feel a bit less stressed. I am very sorry for your loss. Xxx

Erm sorry youve been thru a hard time but the vomiting is really possibly just a bug. I look after my gran 82 and she had a vomiting bug for 5 days then turned out half our elderly town had had it aswell as luck would have it it did get round to us younger soon after

Chemo is brutal and it takes a long time to recover from it. Her system is still healing. Can you check her diet with her to make sure she is eating foods that will help her body heal? I'm thinking of foods which support her gut biome. Definitely see the GP too with your concerns and speak to Macmillan.

Chemo knackers you out for years while you build your immune system back up so it’s not surprising she is exhausted and catching bugs.

Just make sure she is eating properly as no appetite can lead to less and less food as the stomach shrinks.

if she is living alone she may not want to be bothered making dinners and eat snacks which are unhealthy instead.

Did she eat similar things the two times she went out and it happened? Has she been out to eat at other times and she hasn't been sick?
Perhaps she has developed an intolerance to something that she doesn't generally put in her own cooking, but that is more common in food prepared at restaurants

Yes I think this may be what’s happened to this lady. My dm got a tummy bug when visiting us a few months after finishing chemo. She hadn’t left the house so clearly one of us had passed it to her, despite having no symptoms. We could only conclude her immune system was so low, a small amount of germs could make her poorly. My dm was also very fatigued and had kind of a brain fog for a while after finishing. Hope your mum feels better soon.