November is National Family Caregiver’s Month, and Beacon Clinic wholeheartedly supports this well-deserved acknowledgement and recognition of caregivers. Providing personal care for someone who has cancer and is undergoing cancer treatment can be an all-encompassing task. It is not just the time or the effort you put in; it is having to stay strong and positive when seeing someone you love suffering. It is worrying about their diet, their pain, their future, and even their financial situation. It is experiencing their highs and lows as if they were your own.
At Beacon Clinic, we built our medical practice on providing comprehensive care to cancer patients so we know what caregivers go through. That is why our supportive services extend to supporting the caregivers who help our cancer patients. We know that if you, as a caregiver, are not caring for your own needs, you can easily become burnt out — and that burnout can affect how well you function as a caregiver and even impact your own health and welfare.
The good news is that there are ways to cope with your challenges to help you avoid burnout. It begins with a commitment to care for yourself and take the necessary steps to promote your well-being so that you can pour out to your loved one from a surplus of goodwill, not a deficiency.
Three Key Outlets for Caregivers
1. Avoid Isolation
One critical way to safeguard your well-being as a care provider is to avoid isolation, which means not just when you are alone but when you limit your social interaction to the person for whom you are caring. Isolation can cause you to turn inward, and often, during times in isolation, you tend to repress feelings and emotions that inevitably affect your emotional, mental, and physical health. It may not always be appropriate to share your feelings with the patient for whom you are caring. When you have no outlet for releasing these emotions, it will increase your stress.
Make a concerted effort to meet occasionally with a friend or relative for a meal, walk, or cup of coffee or tea to talk about how you are doing and to ask for advice or feedback. Finding an outlet to connect with those in a similar situation is also helpful. Sharing your burdens with others will lighten your load, help you know you’re not alone, and make you feel seen and understood. Engage with a community of people in similar circumstances where you will find support and advice to relieve some of the emotional burden you carry as a caregiver.
2. Maintain Physical Health
Your physical health is vital as a provider for someone who has cancer. Since your emotions and mental health will affect your physical health, you must make every effort to ensure that you’re eating a healthy diet, getting enough exercise every day, taking your vitamins, and hydrating your body.
If you neglect your basic physical needs, you’ll feel depleted. You may even suffer from health conditions that prevent you from properly caring for your cancer patient. Maintaining your own health ensures that you can provide the necessary care to your loved one. It is also important to reach out to others, including medical professionals, as appropriate to help with your loved one’s care. You do not have to bear the full caregiving burden on your own.
3. Practice Intentional Self-Care
Your mental and emotional health is as important as your physical health; one affects the other. For that reason, you must practice self-care and ensure that you’re participating in activities that support your emotional and mental health. Further, it is critical to prioritize these self-care activities before you let your responsibilities overwhelm you.
Self-care can take many shapes; it could be a day trip out of town with your spouse, child, or a friend. It can be an afternoon at a spa. It could be a vigorous morning hike with your dog. Any activity that lets you escape from your daily worries for a short period and relieves stress can be life-giving.
Taking a periodic break from your responsibilities is not neglecting your duty; it is critical for maintaining your perspective and renewing your spirit. So, resist any feelings of guilt that may come with taking time for yourself. Instead, know that if you let yourself become emotionally or mentally drained, you won’t be able to pour yourself out to those who need you most. Balance your responsibilities toward others with your responsibilities toward yourself.
Our mission at Beacon Clinic is to provide comprehensive care for our cancer patients, including supporting the caregivers who assist them. If you are caring for someone being treated for cancer, we can provide you with resources. Reach out to Beacon Clinic today to learn more about our support services, cancer care services, and our experienced team of cancer healthcare specialists.
