Coping with a serious illness is a real challenge, and one where we will need all our resilience. As well as talking with your medical professionals, see if some of the information and suggestions in these resources are helpful:

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/chronic-illness.aspx

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/copingwithphysicalillness.aspx

https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/chronic-illness

For ideas on supporting a friend or colleague, or a child, Skylight has some helpful suggestions of things we can do that can help:

https://skylight.org.nz/Illness