CANCER IN THE FAMILY

Cancer and Families:

A family is a care giver to the patient. Serious illness affects couple relationships, family life and friendships. Sometimes the illness brings people closer; sometimes it creates distance. Established roles and daily routines may alter for a while. It brings changes in the person of families diagnosed with cancer. Families breakdown after hearing this news as they don’t want their loves ones to face any problem and they don’t want to lose them. We as human beings are emotional and breakdown when our loved ones get hurt.

Families are affected by Cancer :

It is important to talk to a child about cancer objectively and honestly, and bearing in mind the child’s age and level of development. You can’t keep cancer a secret, as children of different ages react differently to a family member having cancer. Their initial response may vacillate between crying and indifference, but they will in any case feel worried and frightened. This may be evident from eating disorders, sleeplessness or problems at school. They will anyway sense the change of atmosphere.

Families are affected by Cancer :

Children need support and togetherness, and should not be kept at a distance from the person who is I n pain .They should be reassured that their parent’s or sibling’s illness is not their fault. It is also important to ensure that children or young people get sufficient support and scope to unburden themselves emotionally.

Cancer diagnosis gets difficult when we have to tell our families about it. We think of the reaction of every member. It is every hard and feels like most difficult decision in the world. The diagnosis of cancer is a family experience that changes the lives of all its members, bringing an immense amount of stress and many challenging situations. The daily routine, common activities and distribution of duties all have to change. Family members follow the phases of the disease, very often suffering comparable or greater distress than the patient. They use various coping methods which helps the sick and its family. Family caregivers often feel overloaded with the additional obligations and roles they have to pick up. They find it increasingly burdening to care full-time for the household and provide emotional support.

Coping up with the sick:

Families and friends go through emotional phases while care-giving the cancer patient and to go through the sickness phase. types of burden experienced by respondents were: financial problems, combining caring with work, caring for other family members, their own health problems, lack of education in the field of medical procedures they were performing. The burden of care extends from diagnosis, treatment and, in many cases, to death. The feeling of overload might be dependent on the type of activities performed for the patient and on the level of sense of being limited by them experienced by the caregiver. For example, bathing the patient is perceived to be more burdensome than doing shopping for him/her . It is highly stressful for everyone who is experiencing cancer within their family, however the perception of the disease depends upon the person who is sick. Research has shown that having a child sick with cancer may cause emotional instability, uncertainty and strain among the family member., influencing their daily routines and being vastly energy consuming and burdening..

On an average, the cost of standard cancer treatment in a private hospital is Rs 5 to 10 lakhs. If we involve precision medicine, newer immunotherapy drugs cost will go upto Rs 1 crore. For the most part, previous research on costs of cancer care has focused on the formal medical care costs. Research on home care for patients with cancer has emphasized direct care costs (expenditures). Among indirect costs, only loss of income to family members has been studied. However, a major component of indirect costs, the family labor expended to care for the patient with cancer, needs to be included for a more realistic appreciation of home care costs. Many families can afford the cost nd many families cannot it varies according to the financial status.

The costs of family labor are estimated by imputing monetary values for the time spent caring for the patient with cancer. The assigned monetary cost either is equated with income losses of the helper in question or is based on a putative market value of the expended labor time

Government support in cancer cure:

Cancer destroys not just the body and mind, but a family’s finance. By the time is it done, it makes sure there is nothing left to build. General health insurance does not help, and even the most comprehensive plans cannot cover for the entire treatment.

The Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF) within the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) has also been set up in 2009. In order to utilize the Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund, the Revolving Fund as under RAN, has been established in 27 Regional Cancer Centres (RCCs). Such step would ensure and speed up financial assistance to needy patients and help fulfill the objective of HMCPF under RAN. The financial assistance to a Cancer Patient up to Rs. 2,00,000/- Rs. 5,00,000/- in emergency. These steps are taken to ensure proper treatment for the people who cannot afford the high expensive cost of cancer. Government is there to help you. There are many hospitals that provide free care and reasonable cost for cancer treatment.

Government support in cancer cure:

Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai:Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai tops the list of best and most advanced cancer treatment centres in India. It takes pride in providing free care to around 70% of itscancer patients.