Welp I found out today that almost ten years after my breast cancer it has returned in my lungs. I am not sure what, if any, treatment options I have or if it's just going to be palliative. I am expecting a call from the team on Monday & will take it from there. My first thought is my amazing, lively, funny daughter who is just 3.5. Any advice? DP is very dramatically upset & not taking it well at all; saying crazy stuff and I am numb I think, in shock, but pragmatic. He won't cope alone and we have no family in this country. This is really worrying me.
But I am so so worried about the affect on DD. Can anyone with any experience help me with how to deal with this? To explain to her in an age-appropriate way? I have had an email address set up for her for a while and sent baby pics etc when well; now I'm writing a few letters for her to read when she's a bit older. A memory box? Birthday cards? Videos? I just don't know and I don't know how well I will be to do these things. I am utterly heartbroken of course. My own mum died of cancer when I was 10 & I can't believe history is repeating itself this way. It's a genetic BRCA2 mutation and she has a 50% chance of having it too so there's all that practical stuff to explain too, when she's older. There's so much to think about and I don't know where to start.