Saluting our caregivers
THE diagnosis of cancer often presents a time of anxiety and fear among patients. Therefore, the involvement of family members and close friends as caregivers is essential for the support and treatment of cancer patients in ensuring compliance with treatment, continuity of care, and social support.
While the media often portrays how cancer patients go through life after their revelation, little attention is given to the plight of caregivers and the mental, physical and emotional turmoil they go through.
Some caregivers assume their role under sudden and extreme circumstances. Very often they get minimal guidance and support from authorities and the healthcare system.
They are in the background and invisible but they are there.
This week, I attended the launch of Pinktober, a campaign themed around the colour pink and held annually in the month of October, to raise awareness around breast cancer.
Statistics show that breast cancer cases in Fiji number between 250 and 300.
At the launch, I met up with 61-year-old Teresia Tokona, who underwent a breastconserving surgery in August.
She spoke about the challenges of living with the disease and the hope one can find if given proper caregiver support. For her, her primary caregiver was and continues to be her partner of 40 years, husband Robert Tokona.
She also enjoys the support from her three children and close relatives and friends.
“Without reliable caregivers, people living with cancer will not enjoy quality healthcare. Their condition will worsen,” Teresia said.
Her husband Robert agrees. “Hearing for the first-time that you have cancer can be traumatising, therefore support and love,” Robert said.
“I travelled with Teresia to all her examinations, tests, to chemo sessions and I accompanied her to surgery. It is important that I show my support so that she remains positive and comforted.”
Today, the primary setting for the delivery of care to patients with cancer is slowly shifting from the hospital to the home.
Caring for a family member with cancer poses significant challenges, with considerable psychological and physical consequences for the caregiver.
Family caregiving has gained attention with growing realiSation that support for family caregivers benefits the caregiver, the patient, and the healthcare team.
Fiji Cancer Society needs to be saluted for the excellent work it does in providing support for people living with cancer, as well as their caregivers.
The Society assists over 300 registered patients including those who are being cared for at home and those who are regularly required to attend clinics.
“I got registered with the FCS as I soon as I started receiving my chemo sessions and their assistance has been outstanding. They helped in transporting me to and from the hospital and even visited me at home,” Teresia said.
Caregivers for cancer patients are like the typical “the jack of all trade”. They serve as home health aides and companions.
They may help feed, dress, and bathe a patient, arrange schedules, organise transportation. They are assistants, financial managers, and housekeepers. They do a lot of running around.
They often have to take over the duties of the person with cancer, and still meet the needs of other family members and their own.
On top of the normal day-to-day tasks, such as meals, cleaning, and driving or arranging transportation, as a caregiver, they also become an important part of the cancer care team.
If you are a caregiver, this busy schedule may sometimes leave you with no time to take care of your own needs.
Caregivers help their loved ones learn more about the disease. They make personal discoveries and journey with them.
They are the ones who accompany and remind patients about their appointments with many different doctors, they help in reminding patients about treatment medication and provide valuable advice and assistance when needed.
Caring for someone with cancer is about the relationship you enjoy and share together. This relationship will allow you to learn how to manage the stress that cancer has brought into your lives, as well as understand your patient better.
If you are living with cancer, know that you are not alone and that there is always someone willing to help you. Learn to trust someone.
You must ensure that the right people are involved in your care whether they are your spouse, a parent, a child or a friend. It has to be someone reliable and willing to prioritize someone else’s health.
As a patient you should actively include your caregiver in your decision-making process because they are ultimately there to provide you with support and help you on the road to recovery.
I understand the role of caregiving because I saw my own mum take care of my dying father until he succumbed to cancer of the large intestine in the early 1980s.
She fed him, cleaned him, changed his diaper, washed his clothes and comforted him when he was in pain. She took him for clinics, and sat by his side, feeling his weak pulse as he was slowly leaving.
Four of my dad’s siblings and five of my first cousins have died of cancer. Two first cousins are living with the disease, hanging on every straw of hope.
To see many members of my family die of cancer has created a soft spot in me for cancer advocacy I write this article with a heavy heart and I feel for those who do not get the level of heath care they need.
To all those living with cancer and those who have survived it, remember that you are not alone and you will never be alone. Remember NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE!
To all caregivers out there, you are simply outstanding! To all stakeholders, keep up the great work!