I am sorry to hear about your mother. I am in a similar situation as you.

My dear mum has cancer of the upper jaw, she was diagnosed around xmas time too. I understand how scared you are for her. I have been petrified. Every ache and pain she has, you think its spreading fast, but when mum had her MRI scan, it hadnt spread as bad as we had feared. So try not to fret, it might not be as bad as you think. (easier said than done, i know!)

I have been alongside my mum, being strong, being positive whilst she has had half her upper jaw and roof of her mouth removed in surgery. (but I would be a liar to say it hasnt effected me. I have often come home at the end of a day and wept into my pillow, devastated for her) I cant tell you it has been easy as it has been extreemly hard, but when its your mum its important to be there for her. We dont know yet if mums operation is a success yet,although we are staying positive. We are awaiting the results.

One thing I can say is you are right to make sure you look after yourself too. I made the mistake of not loking after myself, I ran myself into the ground, spending long hours at hospital and nursing mum when she came home. I spent ages trying to get things right for mum, the right food, the right medication, making her comfortable etc, but not eating correctly myself, not sleeping well, or resting, so as soon as mum started to recooperate from the op, my body decided it had, had enough and I came down with a heavy cold. (resulting in, I couldnt see mum all week, for fear of giving it to her)

So rest for you to is important. You can only help your mum, if you feel ok yourself.

We are both feeling well now and ready to face what ever comes our way.

I will think of you and your situation, please keep us posted.

I do wish you every best wish and love,
Kind regards Su
(janets daughter)

p.s. I have put a link in the new links section telling our story, so if you wish to read it, its labelled as 'do you have jaw cancer' and if you want to e mail, feel free to do so, I can understand how you are feeling, but I am not sure i can help much yet as this is new to me too and I am taking each day as it comes too.