Supporting Those Affected By Cancer: Caregivers (Post #23)

Welcome back to the Spiramen Founder's Blog!

In previous posts, we have discussed potential treatments to attack tumors, the role of tobacco in causing cancer, and effects of cancer on a patient's daily life. Unfortunately, one important group of people is often missing from these discussions: caregivers.

Caregivers are the friends/relatives that might be responsible for taking care of the patient. There is an important distinction between a caregiver and nurse/doctor. Caregivers provide unpaid help during or after treatment. They may be a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or friend. While taking care of the patient, the caregiver's health often gets ignored.

The role of a caregiver might include:

• driving patient to appointments

• managing daily medications (dosage, timing, etc)

• talking to doctors

• preparing specific meals necessary for the patient

  • some types of cancer treatments require patient to consume only liquids

  • managing nutrition of patient is key for successful treatment outcomes

• take care of siblings/young children in the family

• emotionally support the patient

These roles can be stressing for the caregiver, as they are expected not only to manage their own emotions but to take care of the patient's as well. On top of that, they have to balance their daily schedule and needs (school, job, extracurriculars, friends) with the patient's appointments and emergencies. The hardest part of this is that sacrifice is expected of them. The caregiver might have to skip a big office meeting or an important test because they had to take the patient to an appointment or stay at home with them.

Since caregivers are personally attached to the patient and likely to be family members, their care is often taken lightly by society. As a result, their needs and challenges are not cared for.

Sometimes, the workload/demand on a caregiver is larger than the resources they have. This is called "caregiver burden". It can lead to:

• depression

• anxiety

• stress

• financial

• social isolation

• reduced quality of life

• physical burnout

Caregiving extends beyond the ending of treatment. The caregiver still has to track recurrence and help the patient get back to normal-physically, mentally, and career/school-wise.

Caregivers support patients, but who can support the caregivers? Well, the healthcare system can help in a few ways:

• connecting them with support groups (other caregivers in similar situations)

• providing counselors

• ensuring that they understand the financial aspects of treatment and are connected to financial support systems if required

• giving caregivers transparent and clear information about treatment

Other friends and family can help as well! Occasionally providing meals, transportation, and emotional support can. help take away some of the burden faced by a caregiver.

Thanks for reading this week's post! I hope it made you think about cancer from a new perspective. See you next week!

Information Citations:

“Informal Caregivers in Cancer.” Cancer.Gov, 12 Feb. 2025, https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/coping/family-friends/family-caregivers-pdq?

Image Citations:

Duke Health. Sharon and Bill Conley at a Duke Cancer Institute Health Education Event. https://www.dukehealth.org/blog/caregivers-need-care-too. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.