By Sandra Ray, Staff Writer
Caregivers can help fill the following roles in
the treatment team:
- Someone to drive the patient to and from
doctor appointments or treatment (chemotherapy
and/or radiation)
- An extra helping hand in the kitchen to
prepare and/or freeze meals for the family
- A listening ear when the patient needs time
to “vent” about the struggles of the cancer and
its treatment
- Filling in at school functions for children
when the parent is not feeling well enough to
attend
These are only a few of the many activities with
which caregivers can help during the treatment of
ovarian cancer. Perhaps the most important role is
one of advocate both at home and in the physician’s
office. Advocacy can be a tiring activity and one
that patients may not have the strength to perform
while they are being treated.
While the outlook for women who develop ovarian
cancer is not always discouraging, it is an area
that deserves increased attention in the research
field today. Since the cancer can grow silently for
far too long before it is detected, women need to be
vigilant about comprehensive annual exams and
reporting even small changes in their health to
their family physician. Caregivers can play a role
in this process as well by helping place symptoms in
perspective and giving new importance to even the
smallest of changes in a woman’s health. Learning
more about ovarian cancer and being unafraid to
objectively balance the information can aid doctors
when trying to determine if the symptoms represent
normal functions of the body or if it could be a
more serious sign.
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