looking for support for my friend...

Don't really know where to post this, but...

My dear friend has an 8 year old daughter who has been diagnosed with Brain Cancer (DIPG).

This type of cancer has a 0% survival rate, and usually appears in children.

They told my friend that her daughter had less than a year to live - but that was 1 1/2 years ago. they have been aggressively attacking the tumor thru various experimental treatments all over the world.

But they seem to have come to the point where these treatments are no longer working. The child has become unable to move or speak, and I am afraid we are nearing the end.

I am hoping to find some sort of support group for my friend, to help her thru this terrible time.

If anyone has any recommendations, I would be truly grateful.

Thank you

Oh, I'm so sorry.

I have a friend who does grief coaching.

I am so sorry. How terrible. Even worse when it is a child.

Has the family attended any support groups? It helped me to share with others who were experiencing the same. I attended Gilda's Club.

They are very fortunate to having a loving, supportive friend, such as yourself.

I hear **** like this and it reminds me why I laugh when people say karma exists.

Really, while doctors generally don't have tremendous bedside manner when it comes to this, hospitals can be amazing sources of information for where to actually go for support. There should be counseling / social services staff on hand to link her up with the groups and professional support she'll certainly need.

Thanks for your suggestions. I will keep them handy.

I think the biggest problem right now is that she is in complete denial. She believes her daughter will be the 1st to survive this terrible disease. Instead of focusing on quality of life, she has focused on quantity - in other words she is okay with daughter not walking or speaking ever again, having to be fed & bathed etc., as long as she survives. And I know I must sound like a total monster, but the reason her daughter is like this now is because of the experimental treatments they have been doing. They target the brain tumor specifically, but it also kills off any brain cells around the tumor. And those do not regenerate. So this poor little thing is on her way to a vegetative state. Is that a really better conclusion? Its just so hard to watch. I know what she is going thru & I understand that for her letting go is not an option. And I am just so worried about what will happen when the little girl passes.

So sad -

I think you need to focus more on your own life. Unless you've got the credentials as a physician or the daughter is actually yours, swapped at birth, then you've got no part in this play. Be a supportive friend once her time to grieve comes, but otherwise distance yourself if this is too much for you.

NO - Jman - it is not too much for me. I simply worry about my friend. Trying to think 2 steps ahead to be sure she will be okay. I have no doubt that the grief she has now is nothing near what she will have at the end. I want to be able to be there for her - help her as I can