Emotional Care | oncology buddies your guide to cancer care

Emotional Care Anticipatory grief – to grieve before the end

June 1, 2022 Word for Word Media

Dr Nelia Drenth helps us navigate the hard path of anticipatory grief. The diagnosis of a life-limiting illness is enough to make most of us shiver with fear and anxiety due to the unknown that is awaiting us. As the illness progresses, we may experience times of hopefulness and hopelessness. Anticipatory grief can be experienced by both the person at the end of life and his or her loved ones. I believe that the grief we experience in the terminal phase of life, also known as anticipatory grief, helps us to prepare for the end of life psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Defining anticipatory grief Anticipatory grief…

Emotional Care Preparing children and teenagers for the death of a parent

June 1, 2022 Word for Word Media

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Ilana Kilian, a social worker, explains that preparing children and teenagers for a death of a parent is a process of honesty where everyone is actively involved. Though we know it’s an inevitable part of life, talking about death is something most of us aren’t really good at because the subject is so painful. It’s even harder for us to discuss and deal with this topic when there are children or teenagers involved. Part of the journey is finding ways to express what’s happening to make sense of what’s happened, and finally, to accept what has happened. Children and teenagers need to be fully…

Emotional Care Coping with loss

December 2, 2021 Word for Word Media

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Dr Nelia Drenth, a palliative care social worker, expounds why coping with loss is about getting through the pain and not over it. Loss almost always indicates suffering of some kind. The suffering presents itself in emotions, such as sadness, searching, yearning, anger, depression, and despair. It affects how we behave towards ourselves and towards others and it often leads to spiritual insecurity when we fail to understand the reason behind the loss. To top it all, our bodies react physically to this loss in the form of headaches, painful muscles, and fatigue. As difficult as it is to believe, this is normal…

Emotional Care Helping children cope with grief

March 29, 2021 Word for Word Media

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It’s a common misconception that children are too young to understand death and so they aren’t included in the grieving process. Unfortunately, in doing so, children aren’t given the opportunity to work through their own grief. How to help children Children will need to be given information that is appropriate for their age and emotional development. When a family member or person important to the child has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, explain to them, what is happening. For example, “You know that Mom has been going to the doctor a lot lately and that all the adults have been talking in hushed…

Emotional Care The emotional impact of cancer

May 1, 2016 Word for Word Media

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Sponsored by Discovery Health Cancer is a life-changing event, not only for you, but for all those close to you. It’s important to take care of your emotional and mental health as well as your physical wellbeing. When you are first diagnosed with cancer you feel a whirlwind of emotions. While your experiences and emotions are unique to you, there is often a common thread in the type of emotions people go through. There is value in experiencing and passing through each one of these emotions, as it shows you are progressing and healing. But, don’t rush yourself, feel them…