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How can I help my friend who has just been told her father has a few weeks to live?

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One of my best friend's father has cancer. He was diagnosed a while ago. It went away and he got the all-clear. However, recently it came back. He has not been responding well to treatment and has just been let out of the hospital. Unfortunately, he has been told that nothing is working and all they can do is wait. They don't know if he will live till christmas.

I'm really worried about my friend. When she told us she was laughing and crying at the same time and like me she clearly can't handle her emotions properly. She said it hasn't really hit her yet and she's not ready for a funeral. I want to be there for her but at the same time I don't want to be all patronising. I'm so worried about her as she's a very, very clever girl. She's applying to Cambridge University and we have exams in January and it's going to hit her hard. What's the best way of dealing with this?