Becoming A Caregiver For An Ovarian Cancer Patient Without Losing Your Mind
Becoming a Caregiver for an Ovarian Cancer Patient without Losing Your Mind
If your wife or loved one has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, you are most likely just as stunned and frightened as she is. Unlike many other illnesses, this one carries a distinct connotation of death, fear of the unknown, and also the foreboding that unpleasant medical treatments will be utilized in an effort to save her life. Sharing the burden is a difficult undertaking, and if you want to be completely honest, you know that in order to share the burden, you need to take the lion’s share of it onto your shoulders.
Becoming a caregiver for an ovarian cancer patient without losing your mind is not an easy proposition but it can be done! Begin by learning about the disease itself from Internet sources and also available texts and education materials from your local library. It should not be your goal to be on equal footing with the patient’s doctors, but instead to have an overview of what to expect in such an illness.
Accompany your wife or loved one to the doctor. Make it your responsibility to know where the office is located, do the driving, set the schedule to ensure you are not rushing, and initiate a brainstorming session with your loved one about which questions to ask. Compile this data and keep it handy. Make it your responsibility to tote it to all of the doctors’ appointments and to keep it up to date.
When you are at the doctor’s office, your wife or loved one will do the talking with the help of the notes you took. Take your own notes about the responses the doctor gave. Look for subtle clues that your loved one does not understand an answer or is becoming frustrated. At that point do not hesitate to calmly but succinctly jump in and restate the question in such a way that the doctor will rephrase the answer. If nothing else, ask until you are sure you understand and then you may help her understand later on what the doctor said. This is especially crucial if there are language barriers.
Becoming a caregiver for an ovarian cancer patient without losing your mind also means capitalizing on your relationship with your wife’s or loved one’s medical providers. Get answers to questions covering topics such as record keeping, time frames for treatments, side effects, pain management, insurance issues, and of course whom to contact in case of questions or problems after treatment. Find out what side effects are common and which necessitate a call to the doctor or hospital.
What can make being a caregiver sometimes frustrating are differences of opinion with your loved one. For example, you may believe that pain and cancer are fairly synonymous and thus it is only normal that she will have pain. Your wife or loved one may have the fear that pain is a sure sign that the cancer has gotten worse but because she does not want to be a burden or frighten you, she requests more pain medication. Accept that this is a situation that requires the help of a doctor and openly but respectfully describe your difference of opinion. While the patient has the last say, you both may be surprised to learn that you are wrong. In this case, pain is part of the disease but not indicative of a worsening of the condition; pain in this case does not serve a purpose and eliminating it by medicinal means is not only appropriate but also suggested!
News About Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month1 Sep 2010 at 4:52pm
It's a form of cancer that affects more than 25,000 women in the U.S. and nearly half of them will die from the disease. Ovarian cancer can often be misdiagnosed, and local cancer groups are looking to heighten awareness surrounding the disease.
Cancer fighters tell it like it is2 Sep 2010 at 9:05pm
Ovarian cancer strikes silently. But on Sept. 25, there will be a lot of noise about it.
Raising ovarian cancer awareness2 Sep 2010 at 11:54am
Women?s Cancer Awareness Group founder, Lydia Zipp, center, with cancer survivor Karin Hoy, left, and Mary Ann Combs. Hoy and Combs were guest speakers at last year?s Teal Time event.
Walking to fight ovarian cancer2 Sep 2010 at 10:12am
A fundraiser will be held to fight ovarian cancer Sept. 12 at Oakes Park on Morrison St. Registration for the Mini Winners Walk of Hope is free. The event raises money for ovarian cancer awareness, education and research.[...]
New and improved test to save women from ovarian cancer2 Sep 2010 at 2:32am
SINGAPORE: The fight against ovarian cancer gets a shot in the arm with the development of a new test, said to be able to detect early stages of the disease with a more than 90 percent accuracy.
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... pelvic cavity even after these surgeries. Genetic counseling can identify a woman's risk for ovarian cancer based on family history and genetic analysis. A woman can be put at ease if the results show that she does not have the mutation that would put her at risk for ovarian cancer. The genetic counseling ...
... response to the treatment for ovarian cancer and as a method for detecting if the cancer has returned. An ultrasound (transvaginal ultrasound) device may be used to create a picture from echoes using a computer. An ovarian tumor may be detected using ultrasound. Biopsy is another test used to confirm ...
... the foods, you will find that nutrient absorption is greatly increased. The most dangerous aspect when dealing with side effects of radiation therapy for ovarian cancer is a failure to recognize the odds of dehydration and nutritional deficiencies. Vitamin and mineral supplementation is crucial and you ...
... fear and is instead strengthening the individual also serves to prepare the body for a better reception of medications and treatments. Healthcare providers are urged to be on the lookout for psychiatric and emotional illnesses that may present concurrently with the cancer diagnosis or shortly thereafter. ...
... Samples will be used to identify the stage of cancer that will help determine if you need any further treatment. Chemotherapy is anticancer drugs used after surgery and sometimes before to destroy cancer cells. The typical drugs used are carboplatin and Taxol that are given by intravenous administration. ...