Caregiver Tips: Planning for Long-Term Cancer Care
Caregivers for long-term cancer care
Long-term cancer care supports cancer patients throughout their treatment journey. Patients diagnosed with cancer may choose a friend or family member as their cancer caregiver. When taking on the role of caregiver, make sure to understand how to best assist them. Here are some tips below to help get you started.
Tip 1: Understand the diagnosis of your cancer patient and how it affects them
Aggressive Cancers
Being a cancer caregiver opens up new responsibilities and challenges. There are many types of caregiving that provide help for the general health and wellbeing of patients. With cancer caregiving, patients often require specialized help. You may be familiar with senior or disability caregiving, but certain cancers are more difficult to manage. For example, breast cancer is common but involves a different caregiving approach than mesothelioma cancer. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lungs that typically targets older adults.
There is currently no available cure for mesothelioma. This results in a 79 percent, 1-year survival rate, even with multimodal treatment—which combines one or two cancer treatments. Cancer patients and caregivers may have many questions surrounding treatment. For this reason, caregiver resources help plan and ease long-term mesothelioma cancer care. Take time to understand the type of cancer your patient has and how mesothelioma will affect them physically, mentally, and socially. The decision to have long-term cancer care is hard on the patient, too. Caregivers relieve some of the burdens patients will have. With this in mind, preparing for your patients will help you fully grasp this role.
It’s also crucial to work with the doctors and cancer teams to provide quality care. Depending on what type of caregiver you are, your responsibilities could change. More qualified caregivers may have to administer medications. Connecting with the doctor will help the cancer team with their prognosis strategy and your patient’s long-term cancer care. This will also help you better understand the patient’s needs.
Tip 2: Keep the patient, family and friends involved
It can be devastating when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer. Putting in the effort to work with your patient and their family will make them feel included and comfortable during this difficult time. Caregivers spend a lot of time with patients. By creating healthy relationships with them, you can give them the support and encouragement they need. Often, treatment is hard on patients and takes long recovery times. You will be one of their biggest advocates.
Tip 3: Pay attention to how you feel
Amidst the distress you and your patient will undergo, it’s vital to check in on yourself. It may seem as though your feelings aren’t as valid as those you are helping, but that isn’t the case. You won’t be able to fully care for your patient if you’re not caring for yourself as well. To avoid burnout, dedicate time for yourself to process your emotions and feelings, especially because of how draining long-term cancer caregiving can be.
If you are taking a cancer caregiver position, keep these tips in mind. Caregiving is not babysitting. Patients and their families rely on caregivers to handle what they cannot. Taking on this role is both an immense commitment and a privilege.
Guest Blog: Suffering From Arthritis: 5 Objects To Make Your Life Easier
Arthritis is one of the most common diseases of the bones and joints around the world, specifically in women. In the simplest of terms, it is the chipping away of the protective layer of bones that help them slide smoothly against each other as you move. When this layer is damaged, friction increases which damages the joints progressively
Long Rod Object Graspers
One inevitable outcome of arthritis is the inability to reach up to objects placed on high shelves. Even if you try and do it, you end up feeling a lot of pain and stiffness in the joints afterwards. As such, one object that can help you on a daily basis to manage arthritis and carry out your daily tasks is to get a long rod grasper that allows you to get hold of things without having to look up or move your neck significantly. Same goes for bending down to lower shelves. Use a grasper to bring the objects onto the front and pick them up with holders.
Wheel Walker/Cane
Most of the arthritis patients experience distress due to their movement being restricted because of the disease. Walkers or canes help shift your weight on them and aid you in moving about in a better way, around the house as well as outside. Arthritis intensifies more when you are heavy weight because then your bones and joints have to bear more pressure. As such, this object helps in dividing the weight and managing the disease a great deal.
Assistive Kitchen Equipment
When t comes to working in the kitchen which is unavoidable, use equipment that shares the work you do with hands. For example, use electric or levered can openers rather than using knives that require you to exert significant pressure.
Hot water bottle
This is a heavy rubber bottle in which you can pour hot water, seal it shut and use it to warm your joint stiffness, especially in the morning. Arthritis patients regularly experience morning joint stiffness due to a consistent inactivity during the sleep hours. This helps prepare you for movement throughout the day. Even during the day if constant work causes pain in the joints, you can sit for a couple of minutes to warm your joints with hot water bottle and feel better.
Skin Cancer in Older Adults
Background
There are three major types of skin cancer: basal cell, squamous cell, and malignant melanoma (MM). Basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer, accounting for 65–85% of cases (Kennedy-Malone et al., 2000). According to the American Cancer Society (2013), more than 3.5 million cases of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancer are diagnosed every year. Squamous cell carcinoma is more common in African Americans and is also less serious than malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma accounts for only 3% of all skin cancers, but it is responsible for the majority of deaths from skin cancer. Older adults are 10 times more likely to get MM than adults under age 40 (Johnson & Taylor, 2012). About 8,420 people were estimated to die from malignant melanoma in 2008. The American Cancer Society (2013) estimated that in 2013 there would be over 76,000 new cases of malignant melanoma in the United States.
Risk Factors
Older adults are more susceptible to skin cancers because of a variety of factors. These include exposure to carcinogens over time (such as through sunburn or tanning booths) and immunosenescence, or a decline in immune function. Family history of skin cancers, multiple moles (more than 100), and pale skin also put a person at higher risk. The major risk factor for all types of skin cancer is sun exposure.
Warning Signs
The ABCDE method can help people remember the warning signs of skin cancer:
A = Asymmetry (if a line is drawn down the middle of the lesion, the two sides do not match)
B = Border (the borders of the lesion tend to be irregular)
C = Color (a variety of colors is present; the lesion is not uniform in color)
D = Diameter (MM lesions are usually larger)
E = Evolving (note any changes in shape or size, or any bleeding)
Diagnosis
Annual physical examinations should include inspection of the skin for lesions. Older adults should be taught to report any suspicious areas on their skin to the physician. Persons should particularly look for changes in shape, color, and whether a lesion is raised or bleeds.
Basal Cell Carcinoma
Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common kind of skin cancer. It is often found on the head or face, or other areas exposed to the sun. Although there are different forms of BCC, the nodular type is most common, and appears as a raised, firm, papule that is pearly or shiny with a rolled edge. (Johnson & Taylor, 2012). Patients often complain that these lesions bleed and scab easily. When treated early, it is easily removed through surgery and is not life threatening, though it is often recurring.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) also appears as lesion on areas of the body exposed to the sun, or from other trauma such as radiation. HPV is a risk factor of SCC, and metastasis is more common than with BCC. The lesions of SCC appear scaly, pink, and thicker than BCC. Their borders may be more irregular and the lesions may look more like an ulceration.
Malignant Melanoma
Malignant melanoma MM has a more distinctive appearance than other types of skin cancer. The areas appear asymmetric with irregular borders, a variety of colors (including black, purplish, and pink), and size greater than 6 mm. Malignant melanoma MM is often identified with the ABCDE method and MM accounts for the vast majority of deaths from skin cancer. The good news is that MM is almost always curable when found early. A skin check should be part of an older person’s yearly physical.
Treatment
The best treatment for skin cancer in the elderly is prevention. All older persons, especially those with fair skin who are prone to sunburn, should wear sunblock and protective clothing. Most skin cancers, when treated early, have a good prognosis.
All skin lesions larger than 6 mm, or those with any of the ABCDE signs, should be referred for biopsy. There are many nonsurgical interventions. These include cryotherapy, radiotherapy (for superficial BCC or SCC), electrodessication and curettage, and topical treatments. Topical treatments are generally not as effective as more aggressive interventions, but research is ongoing in this area.
The prognosis for MM depends on the extent and staging of the tumor, but when caught very early, the cure rate is nearly 100%. Malignant melanoma MM presenting in older adults is often more advanced and aggressive. Malignant melanoma MM metastases sites are typically the lymph nodes, liver, lung, and brain (Johnson & Taylor, 2012). Surgical treatment is required in malignant melanoma, with chemotherapy and radiation. Adjuvant treatments for MM are also often used.
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancer-melanoma/detailedguide/
Guest Blog: Why Seniors Need To Hire An Elder Law Attorney
Given the rather complex legal concerns that the elderly have to face, seniors or those who are helping them make decisions should work hand-in-hand with an elder law attorney.
Seniors have rather unique legal needs, and elder law attorneys use their expertise in the different fields of law that elder law encompasses to serve those needs.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the reasons seniors need the services of a lawyer who specializes in elder law.
Help With Medicaid
Seniors are going to need long-term care, and Medicaid is at the forefront of providing them with the necessary funding for it. However, Medicaid’s rules and regulations for eligibility can get rather complex.
By applying legal strategies properly, an elder law attorney can help seniors navigate those complexities and get the Medicaid coverage they need and deserve, and protect their money, property, or income at the same time.
Estate Planning
The elderly will also require assistance with their estate planning.
Many seniors have yet to create wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. Others simply need to update and maintain their existing estate planning documents.
Elder law attorneys can help seniors with their estate planning to ensure that their assets are legally passed down without complication, and their wishes carried out to the letter.
Planning For Long-Term Care
It is a fact that health complications will eventually arise as people get older. For seniors, there is no better time to plan for long-term care than now, while they are still able to care for themselves.
Seniors will need to draft an advance health care directive, a document where they can specify the actions they want to be taken for their health in case they become incapacitated. They also need to plan for guardianship, so when they are no longer capable of caring for themselves, they can ensure that the court will appoint a guardian of their choosing. These are a couple of concerns that a skilled and experienced elder law attorney can help plan.
With an elder care attorney providing insight and expertise, seniors will be able to make sound legal decisions that will ensure that their future needs will be taken care of and help them get some much-needed peace of mind.
About the Author
Lauren Summers is the Content Marketing Strategist for Miller, Miller & Canby, one of the most respected law firms in Montgomery County, and the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The firm focuses on five core areas of practice: Land Development, Real Estate, Litigation, Business and Tax, and Trusts and Estates Law. In her spare time, she reads books and plays board games with her husband and two kids.
Guest Blog: Ways to Age-Proof Your Knees
You spend several hours of the day running to and fro to get tasks done. And perhaps you spend the other hours checking off your to-do list behind a computer screen. The question is, do you see yourself being able to do this with the same tenacity and fervor five, 10, 20, or even 30 years from now?
The reality is, knee pain impacts about 31 million people in the United States, often due to osteoarthritis. And the older you get, the greater your chances of developing knee issues, due to changes in your gait and posture. Fortunately, you can take steps today to start age-proofing your knees.
Here’s a look at a couple of ways to keep your knees feeling young and ready to move in the years and decades ahead.
Watch Your Body
One of the most important steps you can take to age-proof your knees is to pay close attention to your posture. Poor posture can shift your body weight off-center and forward. Compensating for this shift places extra weight on the knees.
By practicing good posture, you distribute your weight properly and remove the extra load from your knees. You can achieve excellent posture by sitting up with the shoulders back and the back straight.
Take Advantage of Knee Braces
Another way to age-proof your knees is to wear a knee brace. A well-designed brace will provide you with relief from soreness, weakness, or instability in your knees by providing your knees with extra support. A brace can also help to relieve the irritations and minor swelling tied to arthritic conditions.
Improve Your Knee Health with Confidence Today!
If you struggle with discomfort in your knees in the future, this can understandably take a toll on your physical mobility and, in turn, your mental health and overall quality of life. Although pain medication, such as anti-inflammatory medication, or a total knee replacement may help to address your problem, you can prevent your knees from getting to that point in the first place.
Age-proofing your knees doesn’t have to be complicated. Tap into the benefits of knee braces and paying closer attention to your posture to protect your knees’ health. Your future knees will thank you.