My mother has Alzheimers and it's not been confirmed yet but it looks like she has late stage liver cancer.
She's in hospital right now with a chest infection but the doctor phoned me today and told me her bloods were not looking right so she had an ultrasound and there is a mass on her liver. She will be having a CT scan in the next couple of days to check for metastases. So they're not absolutely giving her a diagnosis of cancer yet but it is very likely.
I've been speaking to her on the phone and she feels really unwell and she said to me she thinks there is something more sinister than a chest infection. In fact the doctor has already told her they suspect cancer, but she has forgotten.
I don't know how to approach it with her. I don't want to keep it from her if she would rather know, but I don't know if she would want to know really, and in any case is there any point upsetting her if in 10 minutes she's just going to be upset and not know why?
I don't think there's anyone she would want to make her peace with - her closest family are all dead except me, and the ones that are left I'm pretty certain she would be horrified if they knew she had dementia.
And to avoid drip feeding: I've only been in touch with her again this week after she was taken into hospital, before that it was literally years since we spoke. I discovered that she was hurting my toddler daughters when my back was turned, and this was after a childhood where she had done the same to me, so I broke contact with her. But I don't wish her any harm, I'd like to make this as easy as possible for her.
I'm a bit lost to be honest.