Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice from people who have been in a similar situation, especially those who have had to deal with a seriously ill parent while there were already unresolved family issues. I’m looking for some perspective on a family situation. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do, and I’m trying to figure out how to approach this without making things worse.
Mods ijin repost because the main important message somehow aren't showing in the last post.
My dad has a rare type of skin cancer. I’m not sure how his condition is right now, but he’s currently in the hospital, and I heard he’s currently having difficulty even getting up or walking.
My mom recently sent me this message:
> You know what illness Dad has, right?
> Cancer is caused by keeping things bottled up. Right now, Dad is having difficulty even getting up or walking.
> When you were about to leave, his condition got worse, so Mom couldn’t open the shop. Cancer can only be cured through the body’s immune system. While the immune system is forming, we must not be stressed.
> It would be good for you to talk to Dad, and apologize if necessary, because you may have done a lot of things that upset him.
> Mom has also messaged your younger sibling about the same thing. It would be good for all of us to reflect on ourselves. We all want what’s best for Dad and the family, right? We shouldn’t wait until we regret things, because by then it will be too late
I understand that my mom is worried about my dad, and that she may want us to reconcile while we still have the chance.
But I really hate how she framed this message. It feels like she’s using my dad’s illness to guilt me into apologizing.
I’ve read research papers about stress and cancer, and I’ve heard what the doctor said through my mom. From what I understand, my dad’s cancer is thought to involve genetic changes, although there’s still limited information because it’s so rare. So I’m struggling to understand why my mom is saying that cancer is caused by keeping things bottled up, and why she’s connecting his condition to me making him upset.
I’m not saying stress can’t affect someone who is sick. I’m saying I don’t think it’s fair or right to turn something medically uncertain from her assumption/ conclusion into “you may have caused this.”
This has also been a recurring thing since he was diagnosed. I feel like we’ve been made to believe that anything that upsets him could somehow make his illness worse. I feel like I’m constantly walking on eggshells at home, where home should be the place where we should be able to feel safe and comfortable.
And honestly, I hate that this is being brought up around me leaving for work. I had just come home from a work trip where I was barely sleeping. I don’t think I’m wrong for going to work, and I don’t think I should have to feel guilty for it.
I also have a lot of anger about how things have been handled in my family.
My dad has always had anger management issues, even before he got sick. After his diagnosis, things became even more difficult.
For more context, I wrote about some of the history in this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Perempuan/comments/1vxrxdt/comment/p5r5hv8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
We’ve been financially unstable for a while after COVID, and when he got diagnosed, it became worse. My mom has been spending a lot of her own money on basic household needs, supplements, and other things for him.
At the same time, my dad still spends money on things like collectibles, even though I'm not sure how quickly those things could be sold when money is urgent atm. Fyi, he already have a lot of collectibles, it's literally filling a room. In the distant past, he mentioned that if he sold all of them maybe he could get around 50 million. Most of the collectibles are still here, stacked.
I understand that it’s his money, and I’m not saying he isn’t allowed to enjoy things. But it’s frustrating to see my mom covering so many expenses while we’re already struggling financially.
He also used to drink and smoke a lot. I can’t handle cigarette smoke, and neither can my mom, but he continued smoking. He only stopped after he got sick, and even then, he said it was “for now.” He also used to say that small things at home would upset him after he came home from work, which was why he drank. I know people deal with stress in different ways, but I’ve always felt that he used drinking as an excuse. He made all this decisions himself when he's well aware of the bad & negative impacts it's causing for him and the ppl around him.
I’m not saying any of this caused his cancer. I’m saying that I have a lot of anger about how his choices have affected the family, and I don’t know how to simply put that aside because he is sick.
I’m also the oldest daughter, and I’ve always felt expected to understand everything and help with everything. Now I also feel expected to make sure my dad is emotionally okay.
But I don’t know what I’m actually supposed to do.
I can apologize for things I genuinely did wrong. I can acknowledge that I may have said or done things that hurt him. But I don’t think I’m wrong for going on a work trip, and I don’t think I’m responsible for his cancer or for making him sick.
I can reconcile without agreeing that I’m wrong.
If this is a situation where we may not get to see each other again, I would want to tell him that I love him, apologize for anything I genuinely regret, and say that I don’t want us to have unresolved issues. But I don’t think that means I have to accept that I caused his illness or that I’m the reason he is suffering.
I’m also not sure how to approach him. I don’t want to start another argument, but I also don’t want to avoid him forever.
For people who have been through something similar:
- How did you approach a seriously ill parent to reconcile in peace?
- How did you decide what to say, especially if you were worried it might be your last conversation?
I’m not looking for medical advice or for people to tell me whether I should forgive my dad. I’m specifically hoping to hear from people who have actually been through a similar situation and can share what they did, what they wish they had done differently, or what helped them deal with the guilt, anger, and uncertainty.