I hear that A LOT from the children of elderly patients who have recently been diagnosed with whatever disease process.... Many, if not all of them are able to grasp the diagnosis and deserve to know. It is their right, however the Doctor will inevitably tell the children and they will run us nurses down and tell us "please don't tell mom, we just don't want her to know she has cancer" or whatever it may be. I even had a daughter tell me not to let her mother know that she has been diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. To top it all off, some of the doctors kind of go along with it, leaving it up to the family members to decide what to tell the parent. I am a patient advocate and so of course my patient is my focus, but it is very hard with family dynamics. This in particular has been getting me lately. I know that it is a horrifying diagnosis to hear "cancer" at any age, but pretending that it doesn't exist in your elderly parent doesn't make it go away. How do you deal with family members who demand you not speak of diagnoses to the patient?