What should I say... Options

[blaarg]

So one of my good friends just found out her Mom has cancer. This is the closest that anyone I know has had it, and I was wondering if anyone knows the best thing to say/do (because, "I'm so sorry" can only go so far.)

This is all new to me, so I was just seeing if anyone had any good advice.

[kendra]

You don't always have to know the right things to say to help someone get through the illness of a family member or friend. It could turn out that this cancer is very treatable or it might be real fight. In either case your friend will be so glad to have someone that just listens, and admits to not knowing the answers. I would never undermine the triumph of someone defeating a serious illness, but I know from experience that those stories about so and so's mother having the same thing get old because you start to hear so many of them, and you just want to be selfish and believe that nobody else has ever felt the same fear and anger that you feel right now. Let her vent, cry, & whine, give her a little bit of freedom to be a bitch. I'm sure you would do all these things for her anyway, and that's the kind of friend that really helps.