Support for Caregivers of Cancer Patients
It is rare for a person to be able to get through cancer alone, without their treatment team. It takes a lot of help from caregivers, the family members and friends who help cancer patients get through. This includes everything from the jolt after the first diagnosis, through treatments and side-effects, to recovery and the aftermath of a successful outcome.
This is rewarding while demanding and hard.
New Responsibilities
Taking on the role of caring for a loved one with cancer comes with many new responsibilities. These are some of the first steps caretakers should focus on:
Learn details of the cancer diagnosis and treatment plan. Understanding the big picture helps inform the challenges ahead. Communicate closely with the care team.- Make household adjustments to aid safety and comfort during side effects such as fatigue, dizziness, or nausea. Clear paths, install grab bars, or set up a comfortable recovery room.
- Help organize medical binders or digital systems for medication schedules, appointments, and scan results. Assist with keeping track of everything together.
- Outline supplementary support systems regarding transportation, meals, cleaning, or family assistance to fill gaps as demands intensify.
- Discuss practical needs like work, financial stressors, advanced directives, and transparency with family and friends. Agree on boundaries with such relationships.
- Watch for both physical and emotional changes with new symptoms, depression, or anxiety, and speaking up with concerns promptly to providers.
Care for the Caretaker
Caring for a loved one with cancer is enormously taxing. To avoid caretaker burnout and to care for your own health, be sure to prioritize effective self-care through these steps:
- Ask for and accept help from extended family, friends, and volunteers related to care tasks to regularly get breaks. Don't take all burden solo.
- Continue seeing your own doctors routinely. Attend preventatively to mounting health issues before they escalate.
- Make relaxation, healthy food, and physical activity non-negotiable elements of your routine to regularly recharge. Keep your body strong.
- Spend time outdoors or immersed in nature whenever possible for mental or spiritual uplift.
- Carve out moments for your favorite hobbies or diversions unrelated to cancer that refresh you.
- Maintain social connections and reciprocal support systems outside the cancer experience.
- If employed, inquire about possibility of flexible schedules or remote work arrangements to cut stress.
- If feelings of anger, helplessness, grief, or guilt become persistently overwhelming talk to counselors with expertise in caretaker dynamics.
Do not lose focus of the fact that your prime duty is to sustain your own physical and emotional wellbeing. To be able to draw on your plentiful inner reserves, you will need to know when to take care of yourself.
Additional Strategies for Caretakers
As a caretaker, you will need many strategies to help you manage stress and the daily routine. Here are some additional strategies that may help:
- Try journaling or art therapy to process emotions that accrue in the intense caretaker role. Set aside ten minutes minimum per day for self-guided expression to release tensions or negative feelings layered within.
- Incorporate meditative and mindfulness practices into daily or weekly routines - even short five minute grounding meditations generate immense mental solace amid surrounding chaos.
- If possible, get away for occasional respites for immediate recharging. Decompressing fully is often only achievable with brief physical distance from responsibilities.
- Join a group or community forum designed to support caretakers with mutual understanding and advice from those living the rigors of cancer's daily grind. Connecting with peers provides affirmation.
- Read literature or watch films depicting cancer caretaking journeys. Consuming others' perspectives fosters a sense of common humanity and hope in the emotional ebbs and flows you face every day.
- Consider seeking grief counseling or supportive psychotherapy services if feelings become overwhelming in cycles. Professional assistance helps process vicarious trauma built up through the diagnosis, treatment, and uncertainty.
- No matter the family situation, seriously evaluate limits on care hours you can handle alone to avoid breakdowns. Bolster backup assistance through hiring helpers so the load stays manageable. Your health cannot be sacrificed.
Our Mission
We are a multidisciplinary team of surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, reconstructive surgeons, and clinical trial investigators. Together, we deliver cutting-edge, safe, well-coordinated, and supportive care to people with cancer and their families.
We strive to provide access to cutting-edge clinical trials in cancer care. This means providing access to innovative therapies in the community where you live. We feel strongly that state-of-the-art medicine should be easily accessible beyond academic centers.
We always maintain an individualized touch, we will never treat you as just another number or as just another patient.
What We Do
Our clinical practice encompasses various tumor types including, but not limited to:
Breast
Bladder
Lung
Colorectal
Gastric
Kidney
Livers
Esophageal
Pancreatic
Prostate
Testicular
Head and Neck
Genitourinary
Gynecological Malignancies
Houston's Leading Cancer Research Expert
Our patients gain access to trial treatments sponsored by leading medical institutions in Houston and throughout the nation. Our team works hard to connect you with the best possible trial while providing comprehensive care during your treatment.
We identify the best treatments available in oncology with evidence-based alternative treatments for symptom control. In addition, we have in-depth training in Geriatrics, which allow us to offer tailored cancer care to elderly patients. This frequently means balancing the benefit of chemotherapy while minimizing side effects in older, vulnerable patients.
The Expertise You Need, The Compassion You Deserve
With years of experience working in cancer research and treatment, our team brings extensive knowledge and expertise to every patient. Our passion for helping patients find the right clinical trial while providing the care they need is unparalleled.
Our team is dedicated to making sure you have access to the best possible cancer treatment options.
Start Your Journey to Healing Today
If you or someone you love is struggling with cancer, contact us at our Houston office to learn more about the clinical trials that could help. Our team is committed to giving you access to the best possible care and providing personalized support throughout your journey.
Whether you need a second opinion about a diagnosis or want to learn how to participate in a cancer prevention or clinical trial, our experienced team is here for you.