When cancer strikes someone we love, we are thrown into a completely different reality, one we have been to current but have never before experienced. the world of the sick and dying
There is a world of physical and emotional pain, corridors of hospitals, hospital beds and chemotherapy and radiotherapy. One area where it does not, no matter who we are because we are not different from those around us.
It is a sad reality, and a scary world, and it is only when we go through in this world that we realize how precious life is really.
depending on the length of our life and the trials and tribulations that happen to us, it is likely that we will experience being a carer and may be supported by a loved one in our life.
This could be due to a number of reasons, including short-term illness or advanced age. Tragically, it could also be due to cancer. The high incidence of this disease in the world means many families will be affected by it. And as a result, many people now care of relatives with cancer
Becoming a Caregiver
Many people who care for a loved one with cancer do not think themselves as caregivers. they are looking after the one they love and doing the best they can.
This was true of me when my husband, Brian, was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma. Although he had cancer, I did not think of it as a cancer patient, nor do I think of myself as a caregiver. As I focused on the things that were necessary for their well-being, I saw myself as anything other than a loving wife to live the vows that I promised to my husband on our wedding day
"to love and cherish, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."
Regardless of whether we consider ourselves as caregivers, when we live with someone who can not support themselves, we are, in every sense of the word, a caregiver. The transition to this role can be difficult, especially because of the responsibilities that come with it.
Responsibilities Caring for a loved one
- accompanying them to appointments of doctors and chemotherapy or radiation treatment
- help them make decisions about available treatments
- help manage their pain and symptoms
- medications Administering
- help to the bathroom
- the help in and out of bed
- help in and out of a wheelchair
- help in and out of the car
- Making special meals
- Provide emotional support
- Running home
- care of the household financial management
in addition to the responsibilities mentioned above, it can be a number of things that must be done while taking care of a loved one with cancer, and it may become necessary to ask for help.
Cancer is a journey
many cancer patients see their illness as a journey. The same could be said of those who care for a loved one with terminal cancer. In many ways, this trip is a discovery, because it is only in times of tragedy that we become aware of our inner strength. And it is through this that we are able to rise above our pain and support our loved ones in their time of need.
Being needed is a reward in itself and we discover that it is a privilege to walk next to a loved one as they travel to the end of their lives.
Living in expectation of my dead husband Brian for two years of his survival was torture beyond compare, but along the way, I find things to be thankful for and I ' have always written these things in my diary so I can focus on something positive.
I am grateful to
I took care of Brian at home.
This meant the world to Brian and I and our three children. Our house was never home for the dying. She was full of life and Brian was very much a part of it. Despite his illness, he remained active and alert and has been bedridden for up to three short days before her death.
I kept Brian out of pain.
The knowledge gained on the internet, I am able to set up a routine of pain and symptoms that kept the pain and symptoms under control Brian and significantly improved quality his life.
I find the courage to continue.
Thanks to positive thinking and my journal, I find the courage to continue and stay strong for Brian even on my darkest days.
I kept my promises to both Brian.
After the diagnosis of Brian, I had made two promises to him.
1. It would not suffer unnecessary pain.
2. He did not die in hospital.
Brian passed peacefully in our home surrounded by all her relatives.
I find peace and strength.
The journey of pain often includes feelings of guilt and remorse over what could have been said or what could be done. I am grateful that there was no such feelings for me.
I could not say or do more for the man I loved as it traveled at the end of his life, and it is because of this that I have found peace and strength go with my life.
