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Bogged down by your loved one’s cancer? Feeling miserable because your loved one is feeling miserable? Break out of the cancer doldrums. Hit the road!

It may sound trite, but there are many good reasons to do this. First, cancer is already consuming so much of your shared life. You’re already wrapped up in the fear, the anxiety, the reality of cancer. It’s important to rise above it, even for just a little while.

Take a hour, a day, a week, but make an effort to build new memories. Go to the movies. Go to a new restaurant. Have an adventure in a day. Cancer closes up the world around you, making you a prisoner of your loved one’s disease. Plan a “jailbreak” with your loved one. Be whimsical and make it fun. Or be serious and make it moving. Take charge of what can be controlled in life, because cancer is often more than just a disease. It’s a lifestyle. Today, more people are living with and managing their cancer. That means there’s still time to live, to breathe, to share, to enjoy. Whether you plan a special trip to an exotic locale or a drive through town, reconnect with the ordinary and the extraordinary without packing that cancer. Give your loved one a holiday from the disease. Shove it in a corner, turn off the light, and have some fun.

Memories live in our hearts. If they are bad ones, they can drag us under. If they are good ones, they can motivate and inspire us to believe and to achieve. Hit the road and make some good ones, not just because your loved one has cancer, but because the two of you share a special bond. Get out that nail file, my friend. It’s time for you to spring your buddy from that cancer jail. Hit the road!

For more help with your caregiving, visit The Practical Caregiver Guides:
http://www.practicalcaregiverguides.com/

For a free downloadable copy of my ebook, The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Cancer Care, visit my Smashwords page:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/practicalcaregiver

This is the season when people take unnecessary risks. Are you one of them? Are you endangering your loved one? Be smart. Be prepared. Can you prevent a catastrophe at home? In an emergency, if you need to evacuate the house, what will you take with you?

Start your New Year off right. Take a few minutes today You could save a life:

1. If you don’t have smoke detectors or they are out of date, buy new ones and make sure they are properly installed. Replace batteries in your smoke detectors. Use a permanent marker on the back to note the date. This way, you will know it was done.

2. Do you have a carbon monoxide detector? This will alert you if dangerous levels are building up in your home. Buy one and properly install it. If you have one, change the batteries and mark the date, so you know it was done.

3. If you need to get out of the house in an emergency, make sure you have important information that you will need in a convenient folder or on a USB stick. Or save it in “the cloud”, so you can access it wherever you are. You’ll want contact numbers and any pertinent information on your loved one. Why not also add family information that you’ll need? Don’t forget to have your loved one’s identification and insurance information handy.

4. Consider replacing candles and open flames with battery-operated and independent power sources that are safer. Remember that your loved one may not have the stamina or energy to flee in a fire, so err on the side of caution.

5. If you live in an area that is prone to ice and snow storms, be sure to be prepared. Know where blankets are, have a couple of days worth of food for your loved one that he or she can eat, and emergency supplies on hand — consider an emergency radio.

6. Figure out ahead of time what you will do if the power goes out, the phones are down, and the roads are closed. Have a plan. If you know a big storm is coming, know where you will go and decide when you will evacuate.

Don’t leave your emergency planning until disaster is upon you. Be proactive. And then, sit back with your loved one and relax. Happy New Year!

For more help with your caregiving, visit The Practical Caregiver Guides:
http://www.practicalcaregiverguides.com/

For a free downloadable ebook version of The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Cancer Care: How to Help Someone You Love, visit my Smashwords page or your favorite ebook store:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/practicalcaregiver

It’s that time of year, and if you’re a caregiver for a cancer patient, you may feel stumped about what gifts to give your loved one, especially if it’s been a tough cancer year.

When choosing, consider your loved one’s needs. Is there neuropathy involved? Or a handicap? Or fatigue? Has he or she lost a lot of weight lately? Have things been too serious or very scary? Gifts that comfort can make your loved one feel safe and cozy.

Suggestions:
— A soft lap blanket for napping
— A comfy pillow to rest the head
— A recliner
— Easy-to-put-on slippers, slipper socks with treads, velcro-fastened or slip-on shoes
— Clothing that doesn’t require a lot of effort to put on — sweats, lounge wear, pants with elastic waists, tops that don’t have a lot of buttons
— A funky cane — something colorful, camouflage, folding, or even one that has a seat attached, for when your loved one gets tired and needs to just rest a minute
— A colorful hat, scarf, or turban
— A calculator and/or dictionary, to compensate for those “chemo brain” moments

But don’t stop there — consider other unusual offerings:
— Dinner and a movie of your loved one’s choice
— A drive to see the Christmas lights
— Tickets to a holiday show

Wherever your loved one is in cancer treatment and management, make your gifts fit his or her physical, mental, and emotional needs. Cancer always takes its toll on quality of life for your loved one. Whatever you can do to help compensate for the loss of opportunities and abilities is something that will empower and encourage your loved one. Sometimes the biggest gift you can give someone with cancer is to keep hope alive. No matter what happens, your commitment to be there through rain or shine, sleet or snow, is wonderful gift to give. Celebrate what is good at this very moment and put cancer on the back burner for a while. Love, not cancer, makes the world go around, caregivers!

For more free help with cancer caregiving, visit:
The Practical Caregiver Guides

If you would like a free downloadable copy of The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Cancer Care: How to Help Someone You Love, visit my Smashwords page:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/practicalcaregiver

When my mother was being treated for cancer and I was her caregiver, I had the good fortune to meet some amazing people. Some were medical personnel, but most were patients and family members. Everyone has a story, but some stories are better than others. Why? Because they inspire us to do more and to be more. Along the road to life, there are many heroes who started out as ordinary people. As they battled cancer, sometimes over decades, they began to learn things about their disease, as did their caregivers. How you approach cancer management matters.

One thing I gained from having access to so many cancer patients and their caregivers over the years was reinforced by my own early experiences in working with pediatric cancer patients. With cancer, you have to keep hope alive. Make time to play when you feel good. Sometimes everything can hinge on just surviving a day longer. I learned that from little Scotty, deemed to be dying by his pediatric oncologist. I was called in to say my goodbyes because little Scotty wasn’t expected to survive the weekend. As I sat with him in the ICU, I threw caution to the wind. I put aside his terminal diagnosis and I embraced the moment. Having pulled out my compact mirror to check my reflection, I was surprised by little Scotty’s request. Could he put makeup on me? Who was I to say no to a dying child. By the time he was done applying eye shadow and lipstick, I looked like Snookie at the Jersey Shore. And therein lies the magic of living in the moment. Scotty laughed at the sight of me, and the sound of his laughter was contagious. Whatever was to come didn’t matter. Scotty was having fun. He was being a child, even when the chemotherapy made him feel as sick as a dog. Soon he was into remission, back to being a rambunctious five-year-old with a silly streak a mile wide.

Do I suggest that his recovery was a miracle? No. I believe it was a combination of good oncology, good care by his family, and the chance to forget about the cancer long enough to be a kid again. Every cancer patient regular “fugetaboutit” time, when you put aside the disease and get back to who you are. There are hopes, dreams, plans, desires to be fulfilled.

When cancer caregivers understand that there are common tasks and strategies for helping their loved ones better manage their lives with cancer, that’s when good things happen. Learning to live in the here-and-now, understanding that we have these moments to enjoy and we shouldn’t waste them — that’s when good things happen. When we take our loved ones to cancer treatment and then take them out for fun, that’s when good things happen. Treat the disease and then feed the soul.

That’s why I created the free caregiver ebooks — because of all the wonderful people I met along the cancer highway, who graciously shared some important life lessons with me. But I also learned from all the people who lost their joy, who clung to misery and anger with both hands on the steering wheel. Cancer is never an easy diagnosis. There is a lot of dread and uncertainty that comes with the territory. But for everyone who rose above, who let hope live in the heart, even for a day, you were my inspiration for The Practical Caregiver Guides. It’s never over until the Fat Lady sings, so Carpe Diem!

If you would like to download my free cancer caregiver ebook, “The Practical Caregiver’s Guide to Cancer Care: How to Help Someone You Love”, visit Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/110999

If you would like more free caregiver education, video tips, and inspiration, visit The Practical Caregiver Guides:
www.practicalcaregiverguides.com

Are you a caregiver for a cancer patient? Are you a cancer patient? Do you work with cancer patients? If so, the Practical Caregiver is the answer for caregiver education. Why?

I started the Practical Caregiver concept because I want people to know we can do a better job of supporting and educating caregivers. Does that matter for cancer patients? You bet it does. The more a caregiver understands the complexities of cancer care, the more easily he or she can address the REAL needs of a cancer patient.

Cancer and its treatment affect your loved one’s:

1. appetite
2. diet
3. immune system
4. personality
5. energy level
6. life plans

Is the Practical Caregiver providing medical advice? Absolutely not. That’s why we have doctors, nurses, nutritionists and others working on cancer treatment.

The Practical Caregiver provides education to cancer caregivers, to help you understand your loved one’s experience better and to help you cope with the stress of being a cancer caregiver. It’s available to any and all caregivers, regardless of what medical facility is treating their loved one.

Did you know that very often cancer patients are in need of different types of caregiving? Starting out treatment for cancer in the early stages is very different than catching it in a later stage. You will have to adapt your care and your own life to fit the specific needs of your loved one. Can you do this on your own?

Many times cancer treatment becomes a “serial” issue. Your loved one may have recurrences. These days, things have changed on the cancer treatment front. The disease is managed over years in many cases. As a caregiver, you will have to step up, step back, step up, and step back over and over again. When your loved one is feeling good, you won’t need to provide as much care, if any. When your loved one needs your help, it’s important for you to be there. That means planning for the future in reasonable, sensible ways. Expect to provide care, build your resources list, find out what you can use — being prepared is important.

Cancer can also, in its later stages, be a progressive disease, so it’s important to understand the issues in coping with a terminal illness. You, as a cancer caregiver, want to make your loved one as comfortable and active as possible. Life is about living, not about dying. We all die, without much choice in the matter. We can and we should choose how we live. Make it worthwhile.

What’s the biggest issue for cancer patients and caregivers? Managing the fear of the disease. Cancer is the big black cloud hanging over a loved one’s head. How do you comfort someone with cancer? How do you help him or her manage the fear better? Fear creates stress and stress takes it toll on everyone.

The Practical Caregiver’s mission is to reduce cancer caregiver stress. I believe the better I can help you to understand what your loved one is facing, I can provide to you the tools to do a better job. And if you do a better job as a cancer caregiver, your loved one is likely to have a better, happier, healthier life. That’s a win-win, isn’t it?

So, cancer caregivers, use the Practical Caregiver’s free education. Take advantage of the advice. Believe that what you do for your loved one makes a difference. When you care about more than just the cancer, life becomes fuller, richer, and worth living. Be inspired.

If you would like more help with cancer caregiving, check out:
The Practical Caregiver Guides

For help organizing the holiday caregiving (and who doesn’t), check out my new book at Smashwords, available for download:
The Practical Caregiver’s Rules for Happy Holidays

Need some help understanding why hope is so important for cancer patients? Here’s a quick video tip!

For more help, visit THE PRACTICAL CAREGIVER GUIDES

Someone I love has breast cancer. Newly diagnosed, still shocked and saddened by the news, she’s struggled with the decision about cancer treatment. Discussions with doctors and her husband, long hours mulling over her options — this person I love is just beginning the cancer journey. Should she give up all hope? Should she fear the future?

If I can do nothing more for the many who are in her shoes, let me do this. Let me spread the word that British researchers reported in the Lancet that an analysis of seventeen studies, involving almost 11,000 women who had breast cancers surgically removed and received follow-up radiation treatment, showed a significant reduction in the recurrence rate to 19.3% in the first ten years after surgery — the original rate was 35%! That means that another 15 women in every 100 survived because of radiation after breast cancer surgery. Imagine 15 more women at the gym, walking on treadmills or enjoying dance classes. Imagine 15 more women at the local coffee house, sipping their lattes and sharing their stories. Imagine 15 more mothers and grandmothers at family reunions, laughing and passing the mashed potatoes. Imagine 15 more women at work, fighting fires, teaching students, caring patients, driving buses and cabs, writing the next Booker Prize novel, or just handing you your change at the grocery store. Those 15 women who survived breast cancer surgery and had radiation as a follow-up lived longer. Where there is life, there is hope. Where there is hope, there is the promise of a cure.

Denise Grady, of the New York Times, reported on the Lancet research:
“Radiation Therapy After Breast Cancer Surgery Cuts Recurrence, Study Says”

You may not think it’s a big deal those 15 women survived their first ten years after breast cancer surgery and radiation, but I do. Why? These women are the future of breast cancer treatment — they are the survivors. Researchers will study them, study the treatments they received, in order to help those of us who are newly diagnosed.

Someone I love has breast cancer, and I want her to know that she has a good fighting chance to survive it with the right treatment. Every day, we learn more and more about how we can use the information we get from cancer survivors to tweak cancer treatments so they work better and people live bigger, better lives. Every cancer patient deserves to have good options. This research analysis is going to change lives. Will it change the life of someone you love?

For more help with cancer caregiving, visit THE PRACTICAL CAREGIVER GUIDES

What are the Practical Caregiver Guides and why do they exist? The answer is simple. Family caregivers are not normally trained in how to provide care. They slip through the cracks. They stumble their way through care. Burned out, exhausted, just trying to survive, family caregivers try to cover all the bases, but it’s not easy.

Hospital workers are trained. Even home health aides have to be certified. But family caregivers? It’s all relative.

The truth is that the more you know about your loved one’s disease, the better the care you give. In cancer management, it can be critical. Want an example of some things you should know?

Eating can be exhausting for cancer patients, and many just give up because it’s too much effort. It takes energy to chew food. If your loved one is too tired to eat, he or she will lose too much weight. You need to understand how to feed your loved one.

Scheduling activities that work with, not against, cancer treatments improves quality of life for your loved one. You need to know how chemotherapy affects your loved one in order to maximize the energy he or she has.

Still think you don’t have a real job to do? The biggest problem for most cancer patients is managing the fear of the disease. What can you do to help your loved one? If you don’t understand the toll cancer takes on relationships, you may find yourself feeling lost and alone.

A good family caregiver understands that cancer patients can be affected by the cancer treatments as much as the cancer. In order to help your loved one, you have to believe that what you do can have a positive outcome. But you won’t feel that way until you accept that the quality of your caregiving will improve your loved one’s chances of managing and navigating cancer.

You want your loved one to have the best medical treatment. Be part of that team. Learn about the disease and strategies to keep your loved one healthier. Take the first step. Have the courage to confront the disease, so your loved one can live better.

For help with your caregiving, visit www.practicalcaregiverguides.com