Family cancer diagnosis coinciding with return to work

[Coco12345]

Wasn't sure how to categorise this as it covers a couple of topics, I'm dealing with a few issues atm and looking for tips/support from anyone who's been through a similar situation!
My mum was diagnosed with breast cancer a week before I went back to work and, on top of that, she was going to be looking after my dd (now 13 months). I managed to find a flexible nursery to take dd at short notice and have been back at work a month now. Mum has had a mastectomy and the medics were very positive that was all she'd need, but now they said she has an aggresive form of cancer (found & removed 7 lumps) and will need an 18 week course of chemotherapy :-( Very shocked as we had no family history so this is out of the blue.
DD is doing ok at nursery but cries when I leave her, so of course I feel terrible. They tell me that she does well during the day, but gets tired/wobbly around 4pm but I can't pick her up until about 4:45.
My boss has been very good about my return to work and supportive of my request to work 3 days a week, but those 3 days can feel like a challenge at the moment. I don't feel like I can push it by asking for any more time off, so I'm looking for tips about how to get through a tough time! Any ideas welcome! Thanks x

What about your partner? Does he have any flexibility in his work to be able to pick up your dd from nursery if you feel the days are too long for her?

For your mum, can yoyo accompany her to an appointment to find out what the likely side-effects of the chemo are. MIL is currently having chemo and having initially been told that the drugs would cause her to lose her hair and feel quite unwell, doctors then changed their mind about the type of cancer she had and the new drugs "only" maker her feel tired. Other than that, she can function fairly normally. We also work so are limited in what we can do to help but things which have helped are setting up online shopping for her, testing out good-quality ready meals so that she can order the ones she likes best and eat those without having to tire herself out cooking. Do you have siblings who can help out with appointments? Can she afford a cleaner? Can you/she organise her friends so they can visit her/bring food/offer company/lifts to places?

You have my sympathy, as well as MIL being ill, she was FIL's carer so he is now in a home and we are split every which way between them.

Thanks for your thoughts, DH has already adjusted his hours and does pick her up quite often, but can't get there much earlier than me. Good to know your MIL isn't suffering too badly with the chemo, fingers crossed it won't be as bad as it sounds. The whole situation feels a bit relentless on several fronts, but we will try to look for positives and happy moments.

I have the same issues. I've just started a FT job but between accepting it and starting, my mim's cancer has metastasised significantly. I hear the head here is not amenable to teachers wanting to put their families first, and I'm not feeling it for the job or place as a whole, so I'm going to leave. I'm going to do bits and pieces of contracted work and look for something PT and not all-consuming. I want to spend time with DM while I have her, and with DCs before DS starts school.

It's all in perspective for me now.

Sorry to hear that Lapsed, it must be a tough time but it sounds like you have a plan which is good. Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone! Hope you find something PT which is easier for all of you, good luck x