Support Her

I just found a very helpful study that confirms what we knew all along: social support, spiritual health and psychological health correlate with our quality of life, even moreso if you have ovarian cancer.

I am posting the link below, as I cannot copy it to my blog directly.  

This may be a very useful article for your own knowledge and well being.  It also may help you if you need a medical professional to have more empathy towards your overall well-being. It especially adds value in terms of communication with loved ones and caregivers.

I am really fortunate in that my gyn oncologist has always placed my quality of life as her number one priority when it comes to my care.  I currently have a counselor and my support network is open and listens to my needs.  Cancer is complex, ovarian cancer is no exception.  Adding cancer to your already complex life and to the lives of those around you brings about all kinds of opportunities for generosity, but also can bring about sadness and isolation.

If you have ovarian cancer and feel that you need more emotional support, you are not alone.

This article outlines areas of need and validates that supportive environments play a critical role in our quality of life.  Not everyone gets the support they need, but personally I think it's not always because of lack of potential. Giving help and receiving help are sensitive issues in general.  Caregivers and loved ones may not really know how to help and understanding cancer fatigue, for example, is almost impossible unless you know it yourself.

It is somewhat of a relief that this area of need is being studied as it relates to ovarian cancer. I hope to see more research and help in this area for all who are effected by ovarian cancer.  

I have believed since the beginning that psycho-spiritual-social treatment should be automatically included as needed in the overall treatment for ovarian cancer.  Insurance should cover this as well.  We have multitudes of support groups, both online and in community, available to us but the issues at hand can be so involved that a psychologist or psychiatrist may really be needed to help mend our open wounds.

Peace and blessings to you!


http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pon.3322/abstract

Roland, K. B., Rodriguez, J. L., Patterson, J. R. and Trivers, K. F. (2013), A literature review of the social and psychological needs of ovarian cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology, 22: 2408–2418. doi: 

10.1002/pon.3322