{"id":7265,"date":"2021-04-16T09:10:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T01:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solariscancercare.org.au\/?p=7265"},"modified":"2021-04-16T09:10:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T01:10:59","slug":"the-importance-of-supporting-your-friend-during-cancer-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/04\/16\/the-importance-of-supporting-your-friend-during-cancer-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Supporting Your Friend During the Cancer Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by CATHERINE NGUYEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relationships often change once a person is diagnosed with cancer. Some people don\u2019t know what to do or are afraid of saying the wrong thing. It can be easier for them to just stay away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diagnosed with a brain tumour in his late twenties, Dan<\/a> remarked: \u201cOnce you get diagnosed, you\u2019re instantaneously probably going to lose about 90 per cent of your friends because they get uncomfortable. It\u2019s almost like we remind them of mortality. They don\u2019t understand that just because we have cancer, that doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even close relationships can be affected as well. James says : \u201cI actually lost my best friend through this whole thing. My best friend in the world \u2026 He just wasn\u2019t there for me\u2026. And it was my best friend since we were 5 years old \u2026 he just wasn\u2019t there for me at all. And he didn\u2019t even call to see how I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For young adults who are in the process of establishing their own independence and identity, friendships are more important than ever. Canteen<\/a>, an organisation set up by a group of young cancer patients in 1985 specifically to help young people cope with cancer, recognises the importance of friendship. \u2018A guide to supporting your friend when they have cancer<\/a>\u2019 is available on their website, and is an excellent resource for anyone looking for guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guide provides an introduction to cancer, what your friend might be going through and how you may be reacting to it all. More importantly, it provides some practical tips on how you can help your friend, and how to talk to your friend including what to say and what not to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping in touch is a great way to show that you care. If you can\u2019t visit in person because of Covid-19, messages, emails, texts and calls can help to show that you haven\u2019t forgotten them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let your fear of saying the wrong thing stop you from contacting your friend. You may wish to let your friend know that you\u2019re worried about saying something wrong<\/a>, so they know you don\u2019t mean to cause offence. If you don\u2019t know what to say, you can just listen to your friend and show that you care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A friend in need is a friend indeed. As Marisa<\/a>, a young breast cancer survivor says: \u201cPlease don\u2019t walk away… And the smallest gesture that you are able to make can be more impactful than you would imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catherine has been volunteering with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre since 2017, and joined Solaris Cancer Care as a blog writer in early August 2020. She cared for her father and her husband with cancer, and the experiences changed her life. Catherine developed a passion for researching all matters relating to cancer during her husband\u2019s fight, and is keen to continue building on her knowledge and using it to help others.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While it may be difficult to assess what you can say to your friend with cancer, it’s important you make an effort to be there for them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,14,16],"tags":[101,110,212,311,370,374],"class_list":["post-7265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-inspiring-personal-stories","category-lifestyle-and-environment","tag-brain-tumour","tag-cancer","tag-diagnosis","tag-friendships","tag-importance-of-friendship","tag-independence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaris.nicoleking.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}