cancer treatment

Caregiver Tips: Part 4 - Treatment

Although I wrote the following with cancer treatment in mind, many of these tips can apply to any kind of medical treatment.

  • Realize that a cancer diagnosis and treatment changes everything about life as you once knew it. A cancer patient can become easily frustrated over things that never bothered him/her previously. Emotions can easily surface, as the patient is having to deal with a life-threatening illness, side effects of treatment, side effects of the cancer itself, changes in work status and routine, changes in physical appearance, financial stress, loss of social activities, loss of physical capabilities, etc.

Caregiver Tips: Part 1 - For the New Caregiver

A huge responsibility as caregiver has just landed in your lap. Your loved one's life rests in your hands. Below are some tips to help you manage this new role.

  • Make sure doctors/hospitals are in your insurance plan and treatments are covered. Cancer treatments are very expensive and can continue for a long time, depending on the type of cancer. You don’t want to pay out-of-network charges.

  • Take a list of questions to every appointment. Write down the answers or ask if you may record the appointment. Ask the doctor to explain things in terms you understand. If you don’t know what questions to ask in the beginning, search the internet for “Questions to ask about ________ cancer” or the medical condition you are dealing with.

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Questions

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Welcome to my blog! This is a place where I will provide caregiver tips, resources for cancer information and financial help, and suggestions to assist those who are going through a devastating medical diagnosis. I might include excerpts from our books and some “outtakes” that didn’t make it into my book. You may suggest in the “Comments” section other topics you’d like me to cover in this blog related to caregiving or cancer.