How to support a loved one with cancer

Cancer affects millions of families every year. This illness can take a toll on someone's physical health and emotional well-being as well.

This reality can also be hard for their loved ones. There is the fear of losing someone they love, financial worries and anxiety about what the future will look like.

If you have a loved one who has been diagnosed, they desperately need your love and support even if they're trying to be strong. They're going through so much and they might not be able to manage without a good support system.

What you can do at this moment is to learn how to be there for them the right way. Here are five tips that will guide you on how to help them feel better:

Having cancer can't be compared to catching mild flu. This is not a situation where you can simply tell someone to be strong, to stay positive or that everything happens for a reason because they're literally fighting for their life.

It's important to learn what you should say and what to avoid otherwise, you will get a completely different response if you say something you're not sure about.

An example of something that will work is to tell them you're there for them.

It might not always be practical to always be there when you have other commitments like work. But, they need to know that you're doing your best to be there when they need someone by their side.

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Try your best to go with them for appointments and if you're not able to make it, give them a call or go visit them as soon as you can. It would also help to collaborate with someone to cover for you during those times when you're not able to show up.

You might assume that you're helping by showing them cancer articles every day or talking about it whenever you're around them but, it doesn't work at all.

Bringing it up all the time can make them feel doomed and crush their will to keep fighting. What you can do instead is to bring up different fun topics that won't constantly remind them of their situation.

Unexpected gifts are the best. Your loved one really needs something to help them stay positive and giving them gifts might just do the trick.

The good thing is that you don't have to spend millions. Simple gifts like a bracelet, earrings or flowers will mean a lot to them.

Your loved one probably doesn't want to feel like a burden by asking for assistance all the time. They might try and push themselves to do the basics but for sure, they need your help.

Don't always ask if they need anything because they most likely do. You can learn to predict their needs once you learn their routine.