Cancer is certainly one of the most incapacitating illnesses ever known to man. It not only affects your health but also evokes the feeling of worry and fear. In as much as suffering from this disease alters the way patients go about their daily activities, the most important thing is to ensure that you stay healthy during and after therapy.
Advances in cancer therapy and healthcare systems mean patients are being subjected to significantly shorter hospital stays. Consequently, cancer patients are spending less time in hospitals and more time at their homes. As a result, the role of at-home caregivers has gained prominence. In as much as you will be required to make frequent hospital visits for services such as chemotherapy and radiation, most of the healthcare will be provided at your home.
Cancer care givers at Mom’s Home Care are trained specialists whose role is to provide ongoing and temporary care to cancer patients to ensure that they remain healthy, safe, and comfortable at their homes. Cancer patients require home care since it enables then to recuperate in a home environment that they are most comfortable in.
Home care contributes to recovery by preventing the unnecessary distress that comes with long and unending hospital stays. Besides mitigating stress, at-home care for cancer patients ensures that they remain as comfortable as possible in the course of their treatment. Here’s how care givers come in handy during cancer treatment.
They Provide Nursing Care to Patients
Even though they do not provide medical treatment themselves, most cancer caregivers are registered nurses. This allows them to provide nursing care to you thus relieving the burden of care from the shoulders of friends and family members. A care giver will come to your home and look at whatever care needs that you and your family members have. Thereafter, he/she will come up with a care giving plan with advice from your doctor.
Nursing services that caregivers provide include ostomy care, medical supervision, and watching you for any side effects. At-home caregiving plans can also include pain control, supportive care, and emotional support.These nursing services can be provided at the comfort of your home thus negating the need for you to make those long and tiresome trips to hospitals.
Personal Care
Besides nursing services, care givers can also offer attendant care. This entails undertaking light household chores such as laundry, meal preparation, shopping, and housekeeping on your behalf. Such caregiving frees your mind of unnecessary worry thus letting you focus on the recovery journey.
Generally, cancer patients who are undergoing treatment find it hard to undertake simple tasks such as dressing, bathing, and grooming. At-home care givers can help you out with these tasks thus ensuring that proper hygiene is maintained. These professionals offer personal care with utmost respect and in the most reliable manner.
We Provide Physical and Occupational Therapy
It goes without saying that cancer is a debilitating illness, which can render you impaired. A care giver can help you regain the use of muscles and limbs that get impaired as a result of cancer and the ensuing therapies. The physical therapy services that they offer can also help you learn to use new equipment needed in the management of your condition.
Typically, cancer caregivers are also trained occupational therapists. The fact that this condition disrupts your life necessitates the need to work with a professional who will help you deal with problems that prevent you from undertaking your daily activities.
In their role as occupational therapists, care givers will teach you new ways of undertaking everyday tasks such as household routines, bathing, dressing, and eating. In case your condition requires you to use special equipment, your care giver will guide you accordingly. Simply put, your care giver is there to teach you how to handle everyday roles on your own.
Conditions such as throat cancer can give you swallowing problems or even speech troubles. Any other person may not be in a position to help you overcome such conditions. A care giver can help you learn to communicate again in case you are having speech problems. You can also be helped in case you have problems with swallowing food.
We Help You Manage Your Emotions
Once you are diagnosed with cancer and treatment commences, you will certainly experience mixed emotions. Treatment will bring happiness and hope since you will experience relief. On the other hand, you might experience post-treatment stress especially when you start worrying about the disease coming back. The role of home care is to ensure that you learn how to manage these emotions. This will go a long way in complementing the treatment being used to manage your condition.
Every cancer patient is faced with an array of concerns pertaining to the disease and the treatment being offered. You might for instance be worried about the financial implication of the condition on your family’s wellbeing. Needless to say, no one is prepared for life after a positive diagnosis of cancer.
Learning how to cope with the condition will certainly make you anxious, thus worsening your condition. Caregivers are trained to handle cancer patients and therefore, they can help you cope. The help and support that they will offer you is better than what you get from friends and family members who don’t know much about the illness.
We Help You Get Back on Your Feet
Seeking help from caregivers can help you get back to your feet as soon as cancer is diagnosed. The fact that you are diagnosed with cancer shouldn’t mean that life stops. Recoiling into a shell of self-pity only worsens the situation. Having a caregiving team around you will dispel the feeling of loneliness and loss that many cancer patients experience.
Once you are diagnosed with cancer, your daily routine will certainly be affected because treatment ought to begin immediately to avert the spread of cancerous cells in your body. Due to this, you may need to step back from your day to day activities so that you devote your time and effort towards treatment. Nonetheless, getting back to your routine after treatment is never easy.
Care givers can help ease you back to the motions of your everyday life without letting you feel overwhelmed. They will also help you adjust to life after diagnosis. In the course of treatment, their presence will ensure a smooth transition from the hospital to your home. The personal visits that they will make also go a long way in ensuring the success of the therapy being offered.
We Help You Stay Positive
One of the most important aspects of successful cancer management is maintaining a positive mindset. Professional caregivers are trained to help you maintain a positive attitude. During treatment, such a mindset stops the cancer from growing besides preventing it from recurring. Keep in mind that you will be in a good position to manage your cancer and the ensuing treatment if you look at the entire experience positively.
Cultivating a positive mindset with the help of a caregiver will help you feel better about your condition and life in general. This doesn’t mean that you must “act positive” at all times. Key to cancer treatment is to avoid beating yourself up or even allow others to leave you feeling guilty when you are anxious, distressed, sad, or angry. A caregiver will help you stay positive and act human when need be.
When cancer patients live alone for an extended period, they tend to feel unwanted and abandoned by the society. Researchindicates that loneliness is detrimental to disease management. At-home cancer caregivers provide companionship besides ensuring day-to-day social interaction. These professionals understand that simple acts such as conversing, watching TV, and playing board games can provide the much-needed social support that contributes to recuperation. Such activities keep you engaged and your mind active, and these are the precursors of positive thinking.
We Help You Live with Uncertainty
Needless to say, suffering from cancer is accompanied by unexpected twists and turns. You never know what’s going to happen next or the kind of pain that you will experience. This feeling of uncertainty leaves many patients gripped in fear.
Care givers help you have a sense of control over your cancer thus enabling you quell the uncertainty. They also help you learn how to express your feelings of uncertainty thus enabling you to harness the energy that you need to focus on regaining your health.
Caregivers will provide the much-needed encouragement and one-on-one attention. The experience that they have from handling cases that are similar to yours gives them the basis for providing strength and emotional support to you.
We Help You Manage Cancer-Related Problems
There are several health problems that you might experience in the course of your therapy. More often than less, these problems are side-effects of the treatment being offered to you. The emergence of such disorders can be worrisome given the fact that everyone expects to get treated without any long-term side effects.
A caregiver will make you aware of the fact that cancer treatment might put you at the risk of both short and long-term side effects. They will also enlighten you about the common health side effects that accompany cancer treatments, and how to recognize them. This puts you in a position to know what needs to be done when you notice the side effects and also what to do so that you stay as healthy as possible. With such information, the quality of your life will improve despite the fact that you are afflicted with cancer.
Support to Family and Friends
Emotional support shouldn’t just be given to cancer patients. It ought to be extended to their friends and family members too. Caregivers will not only focus on you but also those who are close to you. They do so by organizing support group discussions on how best your situation can be handled.
More often than less, care givers are also social workers who not only look at your physical pain but also the emotional and social factors that hamper your journey to recovery. For this reason, they act as case managers who can help you find help within the community that you live including financial help. In addition, a care giver will counsel you on how to deal with the typically overwhelming demands of cancer.
At-home care givers are trained to act as liaison persons between patients, family members, and medical care providers. They maintain a seamless communication conduit between you, your family members, and all professionals involved in managing your condition. Besides this, they facilitate any additional resources to guide you and your love ones through all challenges that you might encounter.
We Offer Nutritional and Lifestyle Advice
Once you have been diagnosed with any type of cancer, you obviously need to make nutritional and lifestyle adjustments. A doctor will only recommend the most suitable course of treatment and lifestyle changes that you need to implement. Nonetheless, it is the role of your caregiver to see to it that the recommended regimen is adhered to. A care giver will help you quit detrimental habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption. He/she will also help you keep living normally without redefining yourself as a “cancer patient.”
In as much as cancer home care providers only offer non-medical care, they can handle medical reminders on your behalf. Besides maintaining your pillbox and setting reminders, these professionals will document the dispensation of all medications to ensure that the doctor’s instructions are adhered to. If necessary, they will note down any side effects arising from the medication being offered to you.
Finding the Right Cancer Caregiver Near Me
Once you and your family members agree that you need a caregiver, you need to get in touch with an agency such as Mom’s Home Care that provides exceptional service. A care manager may be sent to your home to undertake an assessment with the objective of determining the specific care plan that works for you. In addition, you will be asked about your preferences to ensure that whatever care plan that is implemented is customized to address your needs.
Taking care of a cancer patient can be a burdensome experience given the fact that most family members don’t know what needs to get done. The fact that they do not have training on caregiving similarly means that they may not provide proficient services as a professional would. Mom’s Home Care professionals are here to assist you and your family members cope with the emotional and physical strain of cancer. We offer an array of services to ensure that you get back on your feet within the shortest time possible. Call us now at 323-244-4789 to discuss your options.
