My Dad has had a horrible month, he had a stroke, then found out he is diabetic, now he has learnt that he has locally advanced bowel cancer. He is still in rehab at hospital and goes to the toilet hourly, and is losing a lot of blood. He's been told that the cancer cannot be operated on but radio therapy and some chemo may assist to reduce it to an operable size. After his stroke Dad was determined to get better and was positive and hopeful, since his colonoscopy he is down, very down. He seems annoyed when we visit him in rehab and keeps telling us to go away. He has even complained to the nursing staff that we (his family) are stressing him out. We have dedicated a lot of our time and energy to him in the last 5 weeks but he just doesn't want a bar of us anymore, he is angry at us and speaks meanly to us, even the Grandkids can't put a smile on his face anymore. I have spoken with the rehab staff about his mental state and they have said we should give him some space. I think he may need to talk to someone, but language is an issue for him as well, because English is not his first tongue and I don't think he would get benefit from an English speaking cousellor. It is so hard to not visit or see him (to give him space), is this what he really wants? Has anyone else had a loved one react like this and how do you handle this? We are normally a very close knit clan, I feel so hopeless. ... View more