{"id":264588,"date":"2025-09-29T19:31:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T19:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/264588\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T19:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T19:31:14","slug":"how-to-support-someone-facing-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/264588\/","title":{"rendered":"How to support someone facing cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Let the patient set the tone when socializing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve finally connected with a friend or loved one who has cancer. You\u2019re eager to show your support. But suddenly, you find yourself tongue-tied. It feels like you ought to know what to do or say, and yet\u2026you don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The solution? Ask.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay, \u2018I know it\u2019s been a while, and you\u2019ve probably got a lot going on right now. So, do you want to me to help you problem-solve or just listen?\u2019\u201d explains Parker. \u201cSometimes, just holding the space is enough. Allow that to be their time \u2014 to laugh, cry, vent or do whatever they need to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beware of \u2018grief tourism\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One thing to avoid while supporting a cancer patient is \u201cgrief tourism.\u201d That\u2019s when you visit a cancer patient during\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdanderson.org\/treatment-options.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">treatment<\/a>\u00a0and take pictures of the two of you together. They might not be looking or feeling their best. But you decide that one photo is particularly flattering of you, so you share it on social media anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome patients are more private about their experiences than others,\u201d notes Adams. \u201cThey might not want certain people to know what they\u2019re going through, or appreciate having photos of themselves online.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s especially true if someone is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdanderson.org\/cancerwise\/hair-loss-after-chemotherapy--10-things-to-know.h00-159540534.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bald from chemotherapy<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdanderson.org\/cancerwise\/how-do-steroids-work--in-cancer-treatment.h00-159385890.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">puffy from steroids<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The solution: Ask if it\u2019s OK before you take any pictures and then again before you share them. Every time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For more tips from Parker and Adams, <a href=\"https:\/\/mdanderson.org\/podcast?segitem=66953\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">listen to the podcast<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/my.mdanderson.org\/RequestAppointment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Request an appointment at MD Anderson online<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u00a0or call 1-877-632-6789.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Let the patient set the tone when socializing You\u2019ve finally connected with a friend or loved one who&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":264589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[37967,138221,138220,4345,138222,18301,5174,3314,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-264588","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-caregivers","9":"tag-expert-insights","10":"tag-family-friends","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-in-treatment","13":"tag-patients","14":"tag-support","15":"tag-survivors","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115289252536144927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}