Oh DEb,
I do feel for you--it must be awful to feel excluded.
And having no husband and no siblings to talk it through with must make it feel even lonelier.

Maybe, your dad just didn't want to admit to himself what he was hearing from the doctors and felt that talking about it would make it seem real, whereas not discussing might somehow, magically, make it not so serious.

At the moment you can do nothing, I guess, except just love him, tell him you love him and are always there for him. From the sound of it, he's not in much fit shape to talk/discuss and will just be grateful for hugs and hand-squeezing so he knows you're close.

This must so be a shock to your system and I can well understand how frustrated you feel. I'm also one who 'needs to know' and couldn't cope any other way. I also let my far-away grown-up children know most of what's happening with me, but sometimes I think my son would prefer to play ostriches--I just feel it's only fair to share my journey with them.

Come on here and vent whenever you need to do so--we understand!
Thinking of you,

Brenda