Caroline Loudenback shared the following wisdom about providing support for ailing loved ones:

“As a caregiver, you have to allow others to help when they can. They really do want to help, and I think it is good to let the person fighting cancer be surrounded by others that care about them.

“We allowed people to help by having her friends from church and the Sno-Valley Senior Center organize rides to Overlake for her daily radiation treatments. This was a great help to me, but more importantly, it gave her time with others, and gave her friends the gift of giving.

“There are things that they might be able to tell their friends that they might not feel comfortable to tell their family, and we as primary family caregivers have to respect that. They need to be able to share their feelings to someone about their fate, and will be protective of family members to allow them to remain positive and hopeful.

“Caregivers also need to have someone to talk to. There is kind of a ‘hope dance’ primary caregivers and the cancer patient do that is important. It is extremely important to remain optimistic and hopeful throughout treatment. Breakthroughs are happening and there is good reason to hope. The American Cancer Society is helping to fund the research that is bringing about new treatments and breakthroughs.”