Relationships Play An Important Role In Cancer Survivorship

Breast cancer is no longer a menace as it was years back; however, little is known on what the patients experience after treatment. Pauwels, Charlier, Lechner & Van Hoof (2013) state that the period of transition to survivorship is filled with emotional distress and a low quality of life. It is evident that the survivors have to go through many struggles and in the recent past, there have been interventions that are meant to improve on their well being. No clear guidelines exist on how the psychological interventions that should be applied to assist breast cancer patients to make a quick

Cancer has one of the biggest effects on the patients mental health but also the patients loved ones and friends. It is one of the hardest things to get a grip on when the doctor tells someone that they have cancer and a fifty-fifty chance of making it. "The disease can bring many changes-in what people do and how they look, in how they feel and what they value" (Dakota 4). It makes people look at the world and their lives in a different way, valuing now what they took for granted and seeing the bigger picture in every scenario. It is something that no one can actually brace, even after the doctor tells them. Through it all though, the person must remain strong and optimistic because the cancer can affect the person's moods and in return affect the outcome of the person and the chances of their making it

Family caregivers struggle with tensions and dilemmas during a period in which their whole life changes dramatically. Research has documented the effect that the patient's cancer has on the emotional, physical, social, and spiritual well being of the caregiver. This increased responsibility for the caregiver can come at great cost to the overall functioning of the entire family, because of role alterations, changes in the family structure, and financial stressors, among others. There also is a physical, emotional, and financial toll associated with caregiving. Caregivers can experience adverse effects on their mental and physical health that can remain long after the caregiving role has

As many patient´s illness beings to progress, many are left feeling “useless” as their health begins to deteriorate and they are unable to function as they used to. And from scheduled check-ups to surgeries, the hospital bill begins to rack up which may cause patients to feel like burdens to the family. According to a case study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a 56-year-old man with leukemia and his wife/caregiver were unemployed due to his condition and her efforts to care for him. She had many caregiving responsibilities such as “cleaning, driving, preparing meals, and coordinating medication, oxygen and other treatment-related activities”. From having no source of income, her finances were limited leading to her close watch on expenses. Meanwhile, as she focused on her husband’s health, she had failed to address her own health conditions. Lacking a support system, the intense and unpredictable future associated with shouldering the burden of her husband's outpatient care created a stressful atmosphere as she alternated her daily life schedule in order to meet his needs. In many instances of cancer, a patient's’ chances of becoming mentally and physically disabled increases. Resulting from such disabling illnesses often leaves the patient's feeling helpless as they begin to lose parts of their minds and bodies.

Carr, B. (2013). Psychological aspects of cancer: A guide to emotional and psychological consequences of cancer, their causes and their management. New York: Springer.

Women may experience a range of emotions with the diagnosis as well as throughout the treatment as a result of breast cancer, such as: sadness, anger, fear and guilt. Therefore, it is essential to closely monitor the client for their psychosocial adjustment to the diagnosis and treatment, and identifying those that need further psychological interventions (Boehmke & Dickerson, 2006). This includes being aware of the impact the diagnosis will have on the family members and loved ones; as their support is warranted as possible caregivers during the process. Appropriate nursing diagnoses for a woman with a new verdict of breast cancer may include (but not limited to): disturbed body image related to loss of hair due to chemotherapy; fear related to the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease; and knowledge deficit of cancer treatment options and reconstructive surgery. Other diagnosis will be added and removed as the patient decides if she wants treatment; and the psychological, psychosocial, and physical changes that may affect her quality of life. For instance, after a mastectomy the patient may have a nursing diagnosis of: risk for disturbed body

Social support was taken as the perception and actuality that one is cared for, has assistance available from other people (spouse, relatives and friends) and that one is part of a supportive social network (Odongo et al, 2015). To demonstrate, my grandmother was able to have a lot of support from the family in which this allowed her to detect the cancer earlier due to the awareness of breast cancer in our family history. Breast cancer runs in my family, in every generation, and the remission of my grandmother’s cancer has led everyone to help out and understand the toll that the cancer was taking on her body. This allowed the family to learn more and support her in what decision she has made in taking the steps of recovery. Several studies have also described how the patient’s concealment of symptoms may influence, delay of medical help-seeking, while discussing them with friends and family can facilitate the decision to seek medical advice (Odongo et al, 2015).

A later study was done on two couples in which the female partner had survived breast cancer. The findings supported the results reported in the first study, that the couple that was able to resolve their differences and experienced improvement in their relationship satisfaction was the couple that shared with each other more emotional experiencing and more affiliative behaviors. The variable of the health crisis had no bearing on the outcome of the improvement between the partners. In both healthy couples and those facing chronic illness, there was a commonality that the couple that improved shared more emotional and empathic exchanges in therapy

Prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the United States, also affects family members. For that reason, healthcare professionals believe that to adequately help the patient with prostate cancer, the family should be meaningfully involved in the patient’s care. For this assignment, I interviewed wife caregivers of prostate cancer patients in order to explore their experiences with the patients, their husbands, as they were cared for at home instead of in a medical facility.

Researchers from the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) conducted a study to review the psychosocial care and needs within the cancer continuum of caregivers. With multidimensional approaches, the guidelines and models for psychosocial evaluations were produced.10 Researchers proposed that community based sectors with a variety of services could improve by including nurse and clinicians within the psychosocial care and stressor treatment. Meanwhile, researchers in China conducted theoretic framework for a smartphone app that was constructed for providing better managing the psychological needs and stressors for patient’s parents. Interviews, focus groups, and discussions with both health professionals as well as caregivers lead to what the app would focus on. 12 Modules were designed for the caregiver to walk through that included numerous subjects. This app was administered through a web-based portal and included both systematic and qualitative approaches for data collection.12 A huge issue of concern did arise with money and transmitting health information online and the privacy of individuals. To decrease future gaps in treatment and find improvements, researchers also suggested professional training, strategic and assistance videos, and improved involvement from health systems. An intended focus would be to better design and implement online programs and propose work throughout communities to include more time, involvement, and information between caregivers and professionals such that this intervention will hope to better solve. Findings from the planned intervention will hope to coincide with these focuses in suggestions for future research of caregivers

Online Support Groups: An Annotated Bibliography Im, E. (2011). Online Support of Patients and Survivors of Cancer. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 27(3), 229-236. doi:10.1016/j.soncn.2011.04.008 Im explores the use of online support groups by cancer patients and/or survivors in her research article.

Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer almost 4 years ago, just a few months after her divorce was legalized. The diagnosis was devastated for her, she was terrified what will happen to her children and how she will be able to support them. Sarah said she didn’t think about herself, everything else was more urgent and important, especially because she didn’t have insurance and she was struggling financially.

This essay is mainly a summary about a scholarly peer reviewed journal which is titled as “Coping in long-term survivors of childhood cancer: relations to psychological distress”. The journal is published electronically in 2013 by Wiley Online Library and written by Kerstin Wenninger. In this article, the Wenninger with a group of researches are mainly focusing on the late effects of childhood cancer psychologically and coping strategies. A series of test will be implemented in this study in hopes to identify the psychological distress in a pediatric cancer survivor. Some of which known as the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18), Post traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI).

“No one can prepare a woman for the confusion of feelings that accompanies a breast cancer diagnosis. In one sense, women lose their entire identity as they make changes necessary to live with this disease. One of the realities of dealing with cancer is the grief process. According to Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, “You cannot short-circuit the grief process. It’s

While the completion of treatment is excitedly anticipated, many cancer survivors would still be disturbed by the emotional and physical tribulation of their breast cancer trajectory (Surbone & Peccatori, 2006). This is because, the impact of cancer remains long even after treatment ended. Besides the common issues that accompany any cancer diagnosis, breast cancer survivors also have to deal with exclusive concerns such as decreased sexual function, relationship issues, fears about genetic inheritability of cancer and complications from this disease such as lymphedema (Hodgkinson, Butow, Fuchs, et al., 2007). Therefore, the completion of treatment does not equate to lesser need for health care. Long term health issues related to breast cancer survivors have thus emerged as a public health concern.