April is National Cancer Control Month.
What can you do to help someone diagnosed with cancer? No two people who get cancer ever react the same, nor do the people in their life. Everyone will cope with cancer in their own way. Your support is what’s important.
1. It lightens a person with cancer’s emotional burden by just being there for them.
2. Don’t have a too-cheerful attitude. The person with cancer knows that everything may not turn out OK, so keep it real.
3. Celebrate the “good news” part of any diagnosis. It’s OK to focus on a positive test result, or a hopeful treatment option proposed by the physicians.
4. Prepare for role switches. If your husband is the one with cancer, pick up the duties he can no longer do. Allow yourself to be the strong one.
5. Learn all you can about the cancer and become the patient’s advocate. Look for alternative treatments and search for the best cancer specialists.
6. Go to the local library for medical reference books. Online, search respected sites such as the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Medical Center.
7. Show up at the oncologist appointment with written questions. Don’t leave without getting answers from the doctor or have a nurse follow up.
8. Offer to help the cancer patient with ordinary tasks such as doing laundry, paying bills, washing dishes, or just to spend an evening meal with that person.
9. Sometimes being there for the person with cancer isn’t enough, so prepare to seek extra help when needed. Perhaps contacting their minister or rabbi, the social worker, or another cancer survivor will help counsel the patient. Maybe they need an extra hand from a home care agency such as Visiting Angels NJ.
Visit our Cancer resource page for more information.