TOPIC:

Identify & Inform Your Support Team

Your support team is made up of anyone who cares about you and wants to help you fight your cancer and win! Your Team may include family members, longtime friends, people from your church or a club, neighbors and others. Anyone can be on your support Team if you want them to be and if they agree. Bring others on this journey with you. They will learn and grow from this experience. Your Team can be a tremendous help to your immediate family, helping share all of the tasks that need to be done.

 Start by making a list of everyone you would like to have on your Team. The number of people may be small or large depending on your situation. You will keep your Team informed on your treatment, progress, and problems and go to members of your Team for help with whatever you need.

When people agree to be part of your Team, ask them what they feel willing or able to do. Could they shop? Cook? Do laundry or housework? Drive you places? Take you to chemo? Make phone calls for you? Keep you company? Babysit? Talk to you on the phone late at night? Make a list of each person and of what they want to contribute to your successful treatment.

Consider making an email type of list of your Team members who are walking this path with you. (Although you can certainly text or message, an email list and certain apps provide more privacy.) You can ask someone to help you make the email list and send out information when you tell them to or you can send the information yourself. Send out frequent email updates to your Team (or give the information to the person who is helping you with this.) Tell your Team how your treatment is progressing and what you need.

Having information available to your Team via email or an app will keep everyone informed with only the correct information. It prevents miscommunications and misunderstandings. It prevents you from having to repeat your "story" over and over again, day after day, person after person.  It helps you stay connected with people who care and lets people know what you need right now.

Be sure to tell people whether or not you want your condition to be mentioned to others or on social media. You can ask your Team not to share information about you with others unless they ask you for your permission first.

Knowing who is on your Team helps prevent you from feeling isolated and lonely. It helps you feel less overwhelmed when you are faced with things that you might not feel well enough to do. You do not have to be on your cancer-fighting journey alone, and you do not want to wear out your immediate family, no matter how willing they are to help.

Remember: No one expects you to continue to be able to do everything that you normally do while you are in cancer treatment. Everyone knows you will need help. People WANT to help but they do not know what to do. You can guide them to meet your needs and they will feel great knowing that they are helping in the best possible way.

Your job in your cancer-fighting journey is to take care of yourself so that you go through chemo and other treatments as smoothly and successfully as possible. Your tasks are to rest, sleep, eat as well as you can (focusing on nutrients when possible,) gently exercise if your doctor says you can, stay hydrated, and do what is necessary to protect and preserve your physical and mental health. Let others do other tasks while you focus on your own health. This is not being selfish. This is doing your best to ensure that you can go back to doing for others as soon as possible!