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Balancing Cancer Treatment with Family Responsibilities: A Practical Guide
By Raveena M Prakash
Balancing cancer treatment with family responsibilities is overwhelming, and navigating through treatment while managing household chores can feel like an emotional challenge. A cancer treatment can take a toll on the physical, emotional, and mental level of a cancer patient. While many cancer patients find these cancer treatments exhausting, for many, these added responsibilities of caring for family can feel like a heavy burden. It will add another level of stress and complexity for them.
In this blog, we’ll discover more about how to manage cancer treatments while managing the family responsibilities and why support from family and loved ones matters!
Understanding the impact of cancer treatment
Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy, are often emotionally distressing and often physically taxing. There are some side effects of cancer treatments, like fatigue, nausea, a weak immune system, and other complications that can disrupt your usual routine. Understanding how the body recovers and adapts from treatment is essential to moving ahead with your treatment.
If you are experiencing any kind of difficulties, then do not hesitate to speak with your medical team. Talking to your doctor can help you to deal with the side effects and make them more manageable. Open communication with your oncologist would help you to plan ahead and set realistic goals for your treatments.
Communicate openly with family and friends
If you are recently diagnosed with cancer or undergoing cancer treatments, then the first step towards balancing family responsibilities during treatment is having an open communication with your family and closed ones. Don’t try to do it all alone, let your family know about your limitations and requirements.
If you don’t communicate with your family, they won't be able to help you the way you're expecting. When your loved ones understand your treatments and their side effects affect you, then they would be able to help you more than your expectation.
- Be Clear about your needs: Explain your needs and requirements for completing your household activities. It may be difficult for you to continue during the treatments. Whether it’s meal preparation or taking care of your kids or household chores, try to make it clear that you need help. This makes it easy to find a way to make your treatment journey easy.
- Include family members in decision making: If it’s possible, talk to your partner and children or extended family members about taking decisions about care. If they are aware of the challenge and actively involved, it will be less likely that you will feel overwhelmed.
Ask for help and share responsibilities
Cancer treatment often leaves people confused and concerned and takes normal life from them. It affects the usual flow of daily life, and when you are diagnosed with cancer, sharing your responsibilities, especially within the family, can help to deal with these types of stress.
Here’s how you can manage effectively:
- Use childcare: If you have children, then consider reaching out to any trusted family member, friends or close ones for babysitting who can help you during the challenging time period.
- Ask for help with household chores: Consider making a routine and ask support from partners and family members to help with cooking and cleaning or running errands as well.
- Using professional caregivers and help: In some cases, professionals can help you with cleaning, babysitting, or even temporary caregivers that can ease your burden.
Create a flexible routine
Creating a flexible schedule often allows you to cope with unpredictable treatment journeys while managing family responsibilities.
Here are some tips to manage staying organized without putting too much stress and pressure on yourself.
Set manageable health goals: Instead of aiming for balancing family responsibilities in a perfect manner, try to aim for a day that allows you to complete important tasks. Some days you might only have enough energy for completing a few tasks. Accept that it’s okay and do not feel guilty about it.
Break tasks into smaller steps: Whether it’s cooking meals or helping with household chores, breaking things into small activities and achievable tasks will make it less overwhelming.
Prioritize self- care: As difficult as it may be, remember that prioritizing your health should be your main focus. If you need to rest or nap in between, please do it, and then don’t feel guilty. Including self-care activities in your daily routine is essential for maintaining energy and emotional well-being.
Seek emotional and mental support
You are not alone in this journey, and you don’t have to do this alone. Consider asking for help or reaching out to support groups, both online and offline cancer support groups, for further assistance and guidance.
- Join cancer support groups: These cancer support groups are supposed to provide emotional support from others who are going through the same experiences. All these support groups can offer practical support and tips, which help you during the challenging times and help you feel not isolated.
- Family and friends: Don’t hesitate to ask help from family, friends and close circles. People often want to give you help, but if you don’t ask help from them, then they can’t help you the way you are expecting. Ask them to help you with specific tasks, whether it’s taking care of your kids, getting some meals, or helping with household chores.
- Professional help (therapy and consultations): If you have the budget, then hiring a professional caregiver for yourself or loved ones helps to support you during the challenging period.
Maintain positive mindset
Balancing cancer treatment with family responsibilities is undoubtedly challenging and exhausting. But it's important to maintain a positive mindset and bright outlook during the treatment. It’s equally important to be realistic about what you can handle. It’s okay to feel the emotions and acknowledge your limitations.
Sometimes feeling overwhelmed and sad is part of the healing journey. Always be kind to yourself; take rest when you need to take it. Try to let go of the guilt that comes with not meeting all your expectations.
Why support matters during cancer treatments?
During cancer treatments, whether these may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or surgery, in most cases, patients often get mentally exhausted and triggered by having to handle all the emotions by themselves. If they are facing physical symptoms of cancer, it can often appear as emotional struggles as anxiety and depression.
Strong emotional support can make a huge difference for patients who are going through different types of cancer treatments. A support system helps to dismiss all of these challenges, and it further helps to boost a patient's emotional well-being. It further encourages the treatment and even contributes to hope for better treatment outcomes.
At Oncare, we offer holistic cancer care because we understand that patients need both emotional support and mental health care, which are essential for a cancer patient’s recovery.
Consult Today
Balancing cancer treatment with family responsibilities is no small feat. It would require a lot of patience, willpower, and support from loved ones. But with the right mindset, strategy, and emotional support from loved ones and family, patients can find balance and ease from mental distress.
At Oncare, we offer premium quality cancer treatments including advanced cancer surgeries at affordable price ranges with an experienced cancer specialist consultations.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with our cancer specialist today. Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Cancer treatments are unpredictable; it’s helpful to plan ahead for your treatments as much as possible. If your family events or responsibilities conflict with your treatment, try to readjust or reschedule the plans. It’s okay to miss family events; your health should be your priority. If necessary, find ways to include your family in your routine, like scheduling your treatment day as a family activity.
Many cancer patients find that they need to scale back on household chores during cancer treatments. Don’t hesitate to ask for help from people. If you are able to do some activities in the home, then try doing small, manageable tasks.Do not put a lot of pressure on yourself; do them when you have energy.
Managing childcare during cancer treatments is highly overwhelming and risky. If you are feeling mentally tired and exhausted, then reach out to your family and friends, or hire any housekeeping and caregiving staff. Create a schedule for your kids and follow the routines. If you need them, then don’t hesitate to use preschool or day care services.
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