Cousin stomach cancer metastasized to bones

[Joeyk4]

My cousin did 6 months of chemo for stage 4 very rare and aggressive stomach cancer. Her scans showed that it still spread to her abdomen they said a bunch tiny tumors that originally they were going to do a surgery where they put chemo directly to her stomach after her initial 6 months of chemo but she couldn’t have the surgery since they found cancer in her pelvic bone. So she is getting more chemo to keep the cancer at bay. Does this mean the cancer will still spread but the chemo will just slow it down? She isn’t talking to much to family or friends. Only her close family and husbands friends. So I can only go by what her sister tells me and FB pics where she looks happy and healthy. Besides the short hair she doesn’t look sick. But in all seriousness if the cancer is spreading even on chemo, how much longer does she have? It’s so hard to comprehend all of this.

[Katekat]

Hi @Joeyk4,

Sorry to hear of your cousin's cancer

Everyone's cancer and cancer experience is different, it isn't always predictable. And someone's appearance doesn't always reflect what may be happening inside the body, someone may look quite well and be terminal or be in recovery, sadly cancer has no cut and dried way of behaving nor of what one might expect.

The best advice I can give you is to talk to your cousin. If she doesn't wish to talk, which may be the case, be there for her. Quite often with cancer, once the initial treatment is over, many people assume people are ok when that may not be the case. Just be there for her in any aspect you can be, whether that's helping her do something or just even letting her know you care and are there for her when she needs you.

We have a great booklet on just this, "How can I help?". I think it would be worth reading and may give you some ideas about how best you can help your cousin.

And we have another great booklet about Emotions and Cancer, which is a great read for people with cancer as well as families and friends.

Let us know how you get on