My sweet friend, Kathleen Brooks, is leading a small group of people who are fighting cancer—some with stage 4. I was moved as she asked me to pray that those she’s leading have increasing hope and deepening faith and trust in Him—that they would experience God’s wonder.
Her request made me think, “How can we best support those who have been diagnosed with cancer?”
I asked Kathleen and her small group to put together a list of ideas.
If you know someone—a family member, friend, church member, co-worker, neighbor—battling cancer put one or more of these in practice. And if you’ve fought the disease, let us know what people have done for you that were most meaningful and helpful.
Here are 15 things you can do when someone you love has cancer:
1. Following surgery, organize meals for the person’s family.
2. Purchase a six-month subscription to Netflix so the person can watch movies whenever the person is feeling ill. (Downton Abbey marathon, anyone?)
3. Pick up a snuggly pair of PJs for post-chemo days.
4. Email regularly that you’re praying.
5. Avoid talking about friends or relatives who passed away from cancer. Don’t tell cancer stories.
6. Offer to pick up kids from school on post-chemo days. Bone marrow donation, or bone marrow harvesting, is the procedure healthcare providers use to obtain blood-forming cells (stem cells) for bone marrow transplant. If you want to become a donor to and help your friend, visit Bio Sharing’s website and learn more about bone marrow donation.
7. Send a friend with cancer on a family get-away. Donate airline miles, points toward hotel and rental car, or gift cards. Provide an opportunity for the family to make memories together.
8. Instead of asking how you can help—which can create blank stares—consider offering to use your gifts in specific ways. Are you good at organizing? A natural handyman? Love to clean? Available for babysitting? Good at accounting?
9. Help the person set up a free CaringBridge.org account. This site helps people stay informed about how you are as well as needs without having to repeat the information countless times in phone calls and email.
10. Chemo makes people’s bodies cold, so pick up some cozy blankets as gifts for cuddling.
11. Send humor. Whether it’s a funny movie, comedian, or humor on YouTube, laughter is always welcome and a much needed stress reliever.
12. The American Association of Christian Counselors offers the Bible study, Survivor Project: Contagious Hope and Joy for When You Have Cancer, a great faith-based way to create a support group for those in your church or community going through cancer.
13. Avoid saying “I understand.” Unless you’ve had the exact, identical cancer, you don’t understand.
14. Offer to drive the person to medical appointments. Always bring paper and pen to take notes as the doctors and medical personnel give information.
15. Fill a recipe box with God’s promises.
Weigh in: What would you add to this list?
