Lotsa Blog

Contributed by Asbestos.com

A mesothelioma cancer diagnosis can leave families wondering how to best care for their loved one at home. Supportive cancer care for mesothelioma will involve special attention to lung health, as well as finding ways to ease mesothelioma cancer symptoms and treatment side effects.

Consider the following tips to care for your loved one with mesothelioma cancer. Remember that simply being there for them is a lot to handle and taking care of yourself will help you be a better caregiver.

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Contributed by Nathan McVeigh

According to the National Library of Medicine, the spouse of someone living with cancer holds a very influential role. So much, in fact, a recent study found that a spouse’s positive attitude can help reduce the likelihood of depression in the one who has cancer by as much as 30 percent. This finding is important because it shows that the spouse’s mental health is just as much of a factor in the adjustment process as the one with cancer—if not more so. If you find yourself occupying this role, and want to be a more helpful spouse, you can start with these general guidelines.

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Contributed by Christine Binney

Over the course of a lifetime, invasive breast cancer will develop in about one in eight women in the United States. Since it is such a prevalent disease, there are countless organizations that exist to spread awareness about breast cancer. Yet despite the public awareness, there are still aspects of the disease that are unknown to many. Here are five things you might not know about breast cancer.

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Contributed by Michelle Hassler

Sitting across from a doctor and hearing the words, “you have cancer” may be the scariest moment of your life. Those three little words may seem like they can stop time altogether. However, after the initial blow, time seems to speed up as you immediately become more aware of your mortality than ever before. Some are immediately hit with the gravity of the situation. Others may need time to process the information and seek comfort in a mind-numbing state of denial. Reality may seem too harsh, too uncertain, or too much to process. However, there is one part of reality that may be even harder to handle: having to tell your children, “I have cancer.” As a parent, you have always been there to support and protect your children. Not knowing what changes the future will bring is a scary reality. How are your kids supposed to cope with this diagnosis when you yourself are having trouble dealing with the news?

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Contributed by Christine Binney

The effects of chemotherapy on cancer patients can be hard to endure.  As chemotherapy drugs work to kill cancer cells, they can also kill other quickly growing, healthy cells including those in the hair root. Many people will experience hair loss during treatment and it is one of the most feared side effects that people encounter. Hair loss can be sudden or slow, full or partial, and occur evenly or in clumps. Hair loss may also occur among eyelashes, eyebrows and body hair. In almost all cases, hair will grow back after treatment. However, chemotherapy hair loss can have a negative effect on a person’s confidence and self-esteem.

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Contributed by Haley Burress

If you have never had a family member or friend trudge through the chemotherapy process, you might be nervous or anxious about giving your friend a ride to his next chemo appointment. It can be daunting to walk in the room and sit next to those big recliners. You might feel scared or sad that your friend has to be there at all. However, all of those feelings aside, you are doing the best thing you can for your friend – you are showing up. When you show up, you are demonstrating that your friend isn’t in this cancer fight alone; you are showing that you are here for the long haul and that you will sit with them through the bad parts so that they are not sitting alone.

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