Pregnant and Having a child with cancer

[PineappleBella]

Good evening ladies,

I found out yesterday, my eldest son, who is 13 has Classical Hodgkins Lymphoma. I’m also 20 weeks pregnant, has anybody been through this? I’m going out of my mind with worry.

Many thanks.

@PineappleBella I am so sorry to hear your son is unwell. It is so difficult processing news like this and scary. My DS is 15 is having treatment for a tumour at the moment, this is something he has been dealing with since he was small, so have had a lot of time to process this, but the worry doesn’t go away.

There is a Children’s Cancer section where there are lots of other parents who are coping with this and they are knowledgable and supportive (I don’t post much there but I do read the other posters) so you might get some support and shared experience over there.

I have found it helpful
to take everything day by day, hour by hour or minute by minute of need be. Take any support on offer. My son is supported by a brilliant nurse from the teenage cancer trust and she is great at coordinating everything, liaising with school and signposting and referring to other useful stuff. She was assigned at his most recent diagnosis and treatment plan.

Young lives v cancer can also really help with logistics, finances and emotional
support.

lots of love to you- lean on all the support you can get x

I guess there may be problems like not being around your son when he has chemotherapy when pregnant. Do you have a partner or someone else who can be with him if you can't when he's having treatment ? As pp says make use of support organizations like Clic sargent ( may have changed names? ). Get help with claiming DLA if you think your son would qualify ( most children with a cancer diagnosis do), as any extra financial help may help especially if you are going on maternity leave . Macmillan may be able to help with form filling. Please be reassured that Lymphoma is really treatable and you will both get through this.