He was asked to help care for his grandmother who had cancer, then he got sick himself and faced parental guilt for stepping back

Shutterstock

It’s great to help your family when you can, especially if someone is battling a serious illness like cancer.

What would you do if you were asked to help your grandmother one day, but you got sick right before the day and didn’t want to expose her to your germs?

This is what happened to the young man in this story, so he suggested that his brothers step in to help him, but Mom and Dad don’t. Instead, they make him feel guilty for not intervening.

He’s doing the right thing here, and it’s sad that no one else seems to care about Grandma’s health. Read the full story below and see what you think.

Quick explanation: My parents asked me if I would help watch my grandmother (who has lung cancer, is currently undergoing chemotherapy, and is on an oxygen machine) for about 8 hours after her chemo appointment. I was asked this question last week, on Friday September 4th.

The last thing Grandma needs is to get sick.

I agreed, even though I had just had a work accident that left me with a fractured toe because I thought I would still be able to bring her food and water and keep her entertained.

Over the weekend I ended up catching some form of respiratory illness, which I still have as of Friday September 11th. On Labor Day, I was still sick and told my parents I didn’t know if I would be able to help watch my grandmother.

They said it would be great if I could still do it, but they would ask around and see if anyone else could help me.

Honestly, he shouldn’t be contagious yet by then, even if he doesn’t feel 100%.

I have two brothers (M21+M23) who live with my parents, my girlfriend (F18) and me. My parents naturally went to them to see if they could help me.

They told my parents that they had an MDN session scheduled and would like to not have to cancel. My parents allowed them to go to DND and then told me they hoped I wouldn’t be sick by Friday the 11th so they could check on my grandmother.

I tell them the chances are low because I feel like shit, but I’ll let them know.

It’s surprising that her mother seems so indifferent to her grandmother.

I texted my mother this morning to tell her that I wasn’t feeling well and that I was afraid of making my grandmother sick right after chemotherapy because it can be fatal for her.

She answers me saying your brothers are not available, we need you to do this. I respond with more concerns about making her sick and how that concerns her safety and not mine.

The brothers should really step up.

She tells me she thinks everything will be fine but if I don’t want to do it, she won’t go to her concert today.

So I felt bad and said why don’t you tell my brothers to cancel their game because they don’t even do anything around the house until they are asked to do it so why should they get a free pass for things like that and then my mom says I can’t do that now forget it.

Even dad doesn’t want to force the brothers to help him.

I end up calling my dad and explaining the situation to him, he agrees with me that my brothers don’t do much on their own terms and that they can cancel 1 week of dnd for the well being of their grandmas.

He then told me that if they didn’t agree, my mother would end up staying home after the concert. I said it’s not right that they can choose things like this when you let them get away with so much.

He definitely did the right thing. And he should tell Grandma about his illness so she can make a decision.

Then my dad said I knew and told me he had to help my grandmother out of bed so he had to hang up.

After all of this, I feel really conflicted about whether I did the right or wrong thing because I feel like I did the right thing for my grandmother’s health, but I feel like I may have ruined my mom’s concert night.

For some reason, he seems to be the only one who takes Grandma’s health seriously. If he’s contagious, he shouldn’t be around her. Either way, his brothers should really step up.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this unfortunate situation.

Never miss a story

Sign up to receive our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.

It seems mom would still be upset even if this commenter was right.

This commenter says he is right not to go.

He just wants to protect his grandmother’s health.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this article about a new student who doesn’t want to share their grandparents’ monetary gift with a medically complex sibling.

This could really kill her.

This commenter says to stay away from her.

It’s crazy that they even want him around grandma, it could kill her.