Mental Health Problems

carolinagirl12

My mother is being treated for breast cancer and physically her treatment is going extremely well. Emotionally she has gone over the edge. She only has 3 more chemotherapy treatments, a lumpectomy, and then radiation treatment. She has a chemo treatment tomorrow and I'm scared about how she will act.

She won't eat unless we pester her. And then she only has a few bites. She will push away the food and say that it hurts (but won't say where) and that her body is "no longer digesting" the food. She has lost around 30 pounds since February. I have tried making/buying her favorite foods. We have tried 6 small meals a day. Smoothies, soups, and nutritional shakes. She just refuses to eat. I know chemo can mess with appetite but I think this is more psychological than physical.

She believes that EVERYONE except my sister, stepfather, and I are in a conspiracy to get her. She calls my sister multiple times a day to make sure she hasn't been kidnapped and tortured. She no longer takes calls from friends or family. She stopped an MRI she was getting and claimed it was a "farce". She pulled out her chemo iv from her port last week and they warned us that if she does it again, they will stop treating her. She said they aren't giving her chemo but trying to sedate her to take me away. A family put up missing dog posters and she claims those were planted to "psych me out".

She doesn't sleep. Instead she lies on her bed, fully dressed, in the dark for hours. No longer wants to watch tv, read, garden, shop, or go out anywhere. We have a few cats that she used to treat like her babies and now she wants to get rid of them. We have to push her to take her meds or she won't take them.

We were referred to a psychiatrist, who she saw last week. A counselor at the psychiatry center called us a few days later and said that if they had known how disturbed my mom was they wouldn't have even seen her! I've called hospitals, the ACS, and talked to anyone who will listen and no one can help. Even after I give them the examples above and more they say things like - Appetite loss and depression are normal. And give the same suggestions every ACS flyer provides. A couple nurses have mentioned having her committed but no one will take her with her cancer. I don't believe her behavior is "normal". She does have mental illness problems but nothing on this level. I've been doing some research and I think she may have Decadron Psychosis. I believe she gets this before her taxol/herceptin combo.

Has anyone had an experience like this? Any suggestions or tips? I don't know what to do. My stepfather and I are exhausted trying to keep her under control. She needs nearly constant watching. It seems like no one can help.

kayfh

Her behavior is, if not a sign of mental illness, at the very extreme end of normal. Yes appetite suppression is normal, but her ideation about you and your sister is disturbing. She has what would be a complex case and she needs referral so that her physical (cancer) and mental health issues can be addressed.

It is good that she has you to help, but you need the services of a social worker to help navigate your (her) way back to physical and mental health.

carolinagirl12

Thank you kayfh. Unfortunately social services are not willing to be of much help. They told us because she is getting cancer treatment there is not much they can do.

The steroids and chemo have been stopped. We are all waiting and hoping once all the drugs leave her system and her new meds kick in she will start to come back to us. The last couple of days have been good as far as eating goes but it's a struggle.