ruth bowles asks :
I'm a 14 year old girl. I overheard my gran telling her friend that my grandad had just finished 38 sessions of radio therapy. I'm really close with my grandparents, so I'm surprised they never told me. If my grandad has had radio therapy does that mean he has cancer? Please answer as soon as possible I don't know what to do
Yin replies
If your grandparents have not told you, this is likely because they are trying to protect you until they know more themselves.
Radiotherapy is used in the treatment of cancer, yes. It controls or kills malignant cells, which are cells that have the potential to become worse. The radiotherapy aims to stop the tumour growing any bigger. It tends to be used if a tumour is in one part of the body rather than cancer that has spread throughout.
If you are worried about what you heard then I would suggest telling them what you know. They will not be angry with you, as I said they are trying to spare your feelings until such times that they can be sure of the outcome. Get them to talk to you about the treatments and how they are feeling about it all. Your gran will need some support during this time as will you, so it is important that you are there for one another.
Yang replies
Try talking to your parents too. Depending on who’s Mum and Dad it is, they would need to have someone to talk too as well. Ask as many questions as you can to have the greatest understanding of what is going on. The more you know the less you will feel in the dark about everything and it will bring everyone together at this difficult time.
If you feel like you need to ask any more questions you can call Macmillan, who specialise in cancer support.
tagged in Cancer yin and yang gran
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