4 Coping Strategies for the Advanced Stages of Mesothelioma Cancer
While chances for surviving advanced mesothelioma cancer are considered slim, doctors offer impressive care and treatment options to give patients the best chance at succeeding against the disease. Besides effective care and treatment, there are numerous other ways you can prepare yourself for a successful journey with advanced mesothelioma cancer. Below, we’ll look at the top four coping strategies you can employ to improve your journey with advanced mesothelioma cancer.
Talk About It
Many families don’t always know how exactly to approach or handle talks with the sick family member, fearing the emotions the talk could bring up. If you notice your family is avoiding the topic so often, you can let them know it’s okay to talk about it without having to worry about your emotions. In fact, let them know that their support and talks can help you cope much better with the situation than when they avoid it altogether.
Avoiding the talks can make your family members feel guilty and eventually cause them to avoid visiting or showing the support you so much need. While it’s not easy to manage your emotions at first, you can overcome the first few days or weeks of grief by talking to someone outside your family. Through the counseling, you might realize that coping with stage 4 mesothelioma is possible, and this can help you manage your emotions better in preparation for talking to your loved ones.
Eat Well
Eating a balanced, healthy diet is crucial for supporting your immune system and boosting its performance against the growing cancer cells. It’s common to lose the desire to eat due to treatment side effects, the stress of the diagnosis, and symptoms from the tumor. However, you must ensure you eat a sufficient amount of nutrients with every meal to keep your immunity at its best performance. You can achieve this through a food journal, which enables you to monitor your food intake and how you react to different foods.
By noting the types of food that work or don’t work for you during treatment, you can help build a positive attitude and your overall mental well-being. If your normal favorite dish is no longer as appealing as it used to be, you should find an alternative that will help you complete a balanced diet during treatment. This is important for minimizing weight loss, which can cause delays in healing after surgery and extend recovery time between chemotherapy treatments.
Mesothelioma Clinical Trials
There is some hope that comes with trying new things, especially in the health industry, where medical innovations can occur at any time. Since there’s currently no recognized cure for mesothelioma, especially in its advanced stages, more clinical trials are being conducted every day. Participating in any of these approved trials can be the only hope you have at overcoming the cancer. These trials are designed to enhance treatment options, improve survival rates, and enhance prognosis, so participating can significantly improve your chances of beating the cancer.
This newfound hope can also boost your mental health by significantly encouraging patients and their family members, as well as enhancing overall comfort. Some of these clinical trials may involve combining two treatment medicines to create a stronger version that’s more effective at combating the disease’s strengths.
Seek Financial Support
Navigating financial challenges alone during mesothelioma treatment can be challenging, as the treatment costs tend to increase with every doctor’s appointment. To avoid financial stress in an already difficult situation, you should consider asking for financial aid for a much easier experience. Even if you have an active health insurance policy, it may not cover everything, leaving you with a significantly huge bill to cover.
When your friends and family come together to contribute to your medical bills, you can shift your focus and energy to healing. Additionally, you can pursue compensation if your mesothelioma was a result of someone else’s negligence that led to the release of the harmful agents in the air. The amount you’re paid as compensation can help you offset debts accrued during your expensive treatment.
It’s sad to be diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, but the earlier you accept your new reality, the easier it becomes to navigate the healing journey much faster. By implementing these four coping strategies, you can optimally improve your chances of responding positively to the treatment and possibly walking out of treatment cancer-free.
