In the devastatingly short time between Anna Bridgeman's father's cancer diagnosis and his death, it was as though time both stood still and lasted forever for the Queensland woman.
The heartbreaking news that her father had pancreatic cancer came with an onslaught of pressure, demands and a lack of support services as she and her husband cared for him.
Her dad was diagnosed in the very late stage of the disease, just after Christmas in 2020.
"He only had a very unfortunate, short battle with pancreatic cancer," she said.
"We ended up having to go up to Bundaberg because that's where he was living at that point of time, and attend the appointments with him.
"There wasn't really that much information or support services that we could really find to help him.
"My husband and I ended up rallying a whole heap of friends to really help him through this journey.
"We didn't realise it was only going to be six weeks."
Lack of resources
One of the first issues they came across was a lack of in-home support services near where her father was living, so they decided to move him to Ipswich.
"Which was really hard because my husband and I both work, so trying to coordinate full-time care of someone that is incapable of even getting out of bed — thankfully we've got very supportive workplaces," she said.
"But there's definitely not enough support and you just keep calling places in the hope that you're going to get something and anything.
"There were not enough resources, or a singular place like a directory to really get the information that we needed."
Ms Bridgeman said the balancing act of being a parent, a wife, and caring for her father while facing the fact he was unwell was very difficult.
"It is so hard, it definitely put a strain on all of us," she said.
"It was something that was so unexpected and so quick, it felt like the longest time ever and that time just stood still.
"It was just so hard, all at the same time it was wrapping your head around what was going to happen but there was no time to wrap your head around it."
App aims to reduce stress
It is common for family or friends who care for people with cancer to experience fear, anxiety, stress, anger and frustration, guilt, loneliness, depression and grief, according to the Cancer Council.
One Queensland study of 136 pancreatic cancer patients and 84 carers showed 15 per cent of patients experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression symptoms, while 39 per cent of carers experienced anxiety and 14 per cent had symptoms of depression.
PanKind, The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, has now launched a free mobile phone app aimed at reducing the stress on carers of people with pancreatic cancer.
The ManyHands app is a clinician-led platform that coordinates help from family and friends, provides support and tips on how to manage care, converts offers of help into practical tasks, creates to-do lists, and holds key information in one place.
PanKind chief executive Michelle Stewart said a pancreatic cancer diagnosis was stressful for everyone involved.
"Family and friends would like to be able to help to lighten the load but channelling that willingness into practical support is difficult, time-consuming and occasionally misguided," she said.
"[The app] also includes tips for friends about how to help and what to say when often it all seems so overwhelming."
Ms Bridgeman believed the app could be a game changer for people with pancreatic cancer and their carers.
"I wish we had something that we could just look at and go, 'Oh yeah, this is where to go'," she said.
