How Can I Best Support a Loved One with Cancer?

Caring for a loved one experiencing an illness is difficult. It is even more difficult when treatments are complex and prolonged as with many cancer therapies. And when there are complications or one has run out of treatment options, that burden is even greater.

It is sometimes believed to be harder to be the caregiver than the patient. The caregiver is watching a loved one suffer or go through difficult procedures and can feel helpless. It is important to distribute the tasks of caregiver. Caregivers need to give themselves permission to take a break, go for a walk, eat a nutritious meal, catch up on sleep or just take some deep breaths. In short, caregivers need care too.

Friends and family of the primary caregiver need to provide them support. This can be just giving them a break at night and trading places to sleep by the patient, to bringing homecooked (or take out) meals or being a shoulder to cry on and lending a supportive ear.

Caregivers need to acknowledge their needs and set boundaries and look at ways to perform self-care. After all, if the caregiver does not take care of himself/herself, it will be difficult to continue caring for anyone else. Think of a caregiver as the case when you are on a plane and are supposed to put your oxygen mask on first to be able to properly help others.

Some caregivers can join support groups as well which can fulfill their needs as a parent of a child who is ill, the child of an elderly (or not) parent, or a spouse who is ill. Each caregiver has needs although the common denominator is the same: a loved one who needs care.