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7 Ways to support a women with breast cancer

Support women suffering breast cancer

It is highly possible that you find your loved one affected with cancer. What would you do and how do you support a woman in your life battling with breast cancer. One of the best things to do is to discuss it with the patient and give her the faith that she can fight it out. Given are seven ways through which you can support a woman fighting with breast cancer.

1. Support her decision

There are endless decisions to be made in breast cancer that includes lumpectomy and mastectomy or radiation. Some women decide on having bilateral mastectomy, i.e. removing both the breasts so that they feel safer. Such decisions could be really frightening for a woman to speak with her partner and family members about. You might find that she is asking for an advice and you might not have any answer.

However, there is nothing to worry as you aren’t a medical professional. Your role is only to listen allowing her to say everything that she feels without passing any judgment. Help her in determining the pros and cons but let her make her own decisions. Also tell her that you would always be behind her. Try determining the fears if she has and other emotions that she is going through and try offering as much emotional help as possible.

2. Refrain her from going to appointments alone

Regardless of how self dependent or brave she is and no matter how much she tries to convince you that she can go alone to the appointment, don’t let her do so. It’s not fun going to a cancer appointment alone and the patient would surely need someone to be beside her when she is going through the diagnosis. There is an undefined fear while going through it and you need to be beside her for support.

3. Speak openly with her about her breasts

It’s a world known fact that breasts pay a vital role in your sex life and a woman could be deeply threaten if she loses one or both breasts that are her sense of sexuality. If a woman in your life (mainly wife) decides to go with mastectomy or double mastectomy, there is a great chance that she would be terrified about your reaction to her changed body. In this situation, only you can assure her that she is still attractive as before. Though you might say this actually without saying but she needs to hear this from your mouth.

4. Function as forward guard

Generally, women are the communicators in families such as answering phone calls and emails and responding to inquiries and invitations. If a woman in your family is diagnosed with breast cancer then she needs to communicate a lot through, phones and emails as friends would tend to call asking about her health. This situation gets into her as she is not able to cope with all this.

This is where you as a partner can come into the picture. You can act as a guard for her and protect her from unwanted calls and emails thus bringing peace to her life. She would normally like answering all the calls and email but not when she is under little stress.

5. Become her strongest supporter

There could be many side effects in a cancer treatment and at times these effects are more horrible than the need to be. Several cancer patients come across a laid back attitude when they try to seek help, possible because doctors have all seen it before and they think of a bigger picture, i.e. survival.

However several cancer patients get worn out to get out of bed, sick to eat and are not able to walk due to blisters or pain. In this situation, you must become her strongest supporter by helping her with everything possible.

6. Expect what she can’t do and make the change

If at all a surgery happens then there are quite a few changes after it that a cancer patient undergoes that make her not do certain things. Thus, you need to anticipate it and make changes accordingly.

7. Never expect everything to be fine straight away

Even if your loved one has come out of the surgery with flying colors, don’t expect everything to be fine the moment she reaches home. Some women lose quite a lot of hair during treatment and that could take away their confidence. Be with her as long as you can and help her all over again to regain her beauty.

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