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Providing physical care and emotional support is a challenge
for many carers. You may be angry, shocked, disappointed,
irritable or just 'not yourself'. You may have physical responses
just thinking about what is happening to your relative or
friend. Physical wellbeing is closely tied to emotional wellbeing.
Take time to do things you normally do for yourself that
help relieve the pressures of the day. The time you take out
from attending to a person with cancer strengthens you for
the time you must devote to them.
Some carers surprise themselves with what they can do once
they are shown, especially if they have professional support.
When you are ready, a range of home nursing services are available
to help. So if the person you are caring for requires more
care than you think you can manage, ask the doctor or nurse
to arrange for nurses to visit at home.
Almost all couples find that the woman being diagnosed and
treated for breast cancer is a difficult time for them. However,
most couples cope and get on with their lives with the help
of good medical care.
Some couples may need more help due to relationship problems,
job stress or one or both of them gets depressed. It can be
very hard to keep going when you have to work to keep the
money coming in and at the same time provide care.
Learning ways of managing these problems can help a couple
to feel more in control, and better able to cope with the
stress that the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer may
be placing on them. You can call the Cancer
Council on 131120 to get advice on how to deal with
these problems.
There is not a lot of information for partners and carers
of women with breast cancer. If you have ideas or can help,
please email us- partner-help.
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