cancer

Perhaps there’s nothing harder than walking beside a loved one battling cancer. One of the biggest challenges can be the troubling side effects experienced from treatments like chemotherapy, and you probably want nothing more than to relieve these symptoms and help your loved one recover. Although simply being there for your loved one is strong medicine in and of itself, there are other ways to help. Here are some common side effects and how you can help your loved one overcome them:

Skin Problems: Cancer patients often struggle with a number of treatment- and disease-related skin conditions. Loved ones can help by encouraging the use of sunscreen, helping to protect affected areas from trauma, and keeping skin clean and dry.

Hair Loss: If a cancer patient is concerned about the potential for hair loss, loved ones can help by assisting with the … Read More »

We all benefit from a healthy diet, but it’s especially important for those diagnosed with cancer. Good nutrition helps cancer patients regain strength, enabling them to endure chemotherapy treatments, defend against infections, eliminate breakdown of body tissue, and rebuild lost tissue. Good nutrition also helps patients cope with any cancer treatment side effects and may even be able to help them handle higher doses of certain drugs.

Nutrition recommendations for those with cancer may emphasize eating more higher calorie, higher protein foods. The doctor may recommend drinking more milk or eating foods like cheese and cooked eggs. Other suggestions might include increasing the use of sauces and gravies, or changing cooking methods to include more butter, margarine, or oil. Sometimes, nutrition recommendations for cancer patients suggest eating less of certain high-fiber foods which can aggravate problems such as diarrhea or a … Read More »

When someone you love has cancer, it’s natural to want to drop everything and help that person, but taking on the role of a caregiver is not without challenges. Cancer treatments and the resulting side effects can be especially difficult for both the patients themselves and their loved ones, and sometimes caregivers may feel overwhelmed.

As a caregiver, it’s crucial to know and accept your own limits, and to know that reaching those limits does not mean that you have failed. Having a support system in place is an important part of taking care of your loved one and yourself. Determine which tasks you will do yourself, and which ones you will need help with.

Try these tips, courtesy of Hired Hands Homecare, to help set yourself up for success as a caregiver:

Build your support system. Talk to friends, family members, members … Read More »