Creatively Caring For A Loved One With Cancer

Cancer is something that no one wants to hear, no matter if you are the one being diagnosed or someone who is related or friends with that person. Everyone thinks cancer would never happen to them, but in reality we all will be affected by cancer whether it is ourselves or someone we care about. If someone we care for is diagnosed with cancer, there are ways we can help them deal with the everyday stresses of treatments and dealing with the emotions and feelings dealing with cancer. There are things from going to treatments with them or being there to talk, but there are other creative things you can do to help someone you love deal with cancer.

Lose of hair or breast

Every woman has a hard time dealing with the lose of her hair or her breast as a result of chemotherapy or surgery. There are so many different emotions that are tied into losing those things. They can cause her to feel like less of a woman. If she has lost her hair you can go with her to try on wigs, if she is comfortable enough with it, joke around. When I went to get my wig, my best friend told me one made me look like Mic Jager. It made me laugh through the pain of losing my hair. She also told me which ones made me look hot and which ones just didn’t look right. It helped with my self image and doing something like that can help your loved one.

If she is losing a breast, offer to go to a support group with her, or help her find bras that will hide the lose. There are many different companies that offer bras that make it look like we still have our breasts and will help us feel more like a woman. Something special you can do is get her a gift certificate to a spa. Getting to go out and get pampered for the day will make any woman feel special and it could help take her mind off her emotions and enjoy a nice massage or facial.

Daily Living

Sometimes the stress of daily living can get to be too much for someone with cancer. Having to go through treatments and deal with fatigue and then cook, clean, and everything else can be a little too much sometimes. Some you can do is offer to prepare one meal a week for the rest of his or her treatments. Having to not worry about the meal for at least one day a week will take away so much stress. If you are going out, you can offer to run some errands such as going grocery shopping, getting their mail, or even taking a payment to the bill company. Many times the simple offer will mean the world. There have been times when my friends offered to get my mail from the post office or get me things from the store so I wouldn’t have to go out.

You can offer to clean the house so they can relax or do something with their family, or offer to babysit the kids so mom and dad can go out and try to get their minds off of the cancer. Cancer can put so much stress on a couple that having some time alone can mean the world to them. Ask them to teach you one of their favorite things to do. This will get them thinking about something that makes them happy instead of focusing on the cancer. It makes them try to stay as normal as possible. Instead of having the person with cancer drive when going out, offer to drive them. There were so many times my friends and I got together and each time I had 3 or 4 people offering to drive so I wouldn’t have to. It was so sweet and made me feel so special.

Depression

We all know when you have an illness like cancer it can bring about depression or wondering if fighting is really worth it. Make a daily phone call just to chat, but don’t ask questions about how they are feeling. My brother called me everyday and asked me random questions about literature even though I know he didn’t like it. You can send a card or letter of encouragement. My aunt sent me cards every week telling me she was praying for me or that she was just thinking of me. It always made me smile even when I knew she send them each week.

Along with the letter or card of encouragement you can become a secret pal. Send them cards with small gifts like a small candy bar or something, but don’t sign your name and send it from different places to keep them wondering and get excited when a new one comes. You can get so creative with that by sending the card in another envelope to a friend or family member in another state and ask them to send the already addressed and stamped card to your cancer-fighting friend. Make them laugh, laughing is so important for cancer patients it helps keep them happy and mind off the pain. My friends would make jokes about what I could and could not eat, for example we went out for brunch and everyone got sunny side up eggs knowing I couldn’t have them, just to taunt me.

Finances

Lastly cancer treatments can be very expensive. You can hold a fundraiser to help pay their bills. My community held a spaghetti dinner to help pay for my bills, and they set up a bank account for donations to help. The money they raised helped pay for everything. It meant so much to me, I sent thank you cards to everyone involved. Others cut out certain expenses to help make a donation to the cancer patient to help with the costs. Having someone reach out and try to help with treatments can make the cancer patient feel special and like someone loves them

There are so many different things that you can do to help someone you love deal with the emotions and daily stresses of dealing with cancer. You can make everything seem to fade away when you make them feel like they are loved. The little things can help them keep their minds on the good things in life instead of falling into the valley of depression.

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Filed: Brand New
tags: Cancer, Caring, Creatively, Loved