Help and Support for Cancer Patients

There is a gold mine of helpful information on the internet for people fighting cancer and their families. There are even weekend retreats for families battling cancer. The Cancer Survivor's Network is a place where those with cancer can share their stories, hopes, and dreams. Tender Loving Care us a "magalog," a cross between a magazine and a catalog, put out by the American Cancer Society and is a non profit organization dedicated to helping women cope with such things as loss of hair and breast surgery, by providing them with wigs, hats, and artificial breasts. Look Good, Feel Better is another group helping women to deal with cancer. For men there is Man to Man, to provide help to the families and men who have prostate cancer.

One of the programs of the ACS is Reach for Recover. Specially trained volunteers who have had breast cancer either visit or phone women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, helping them to cope and get some orientation. If you have to travel away from home for cancer treatment, try to stay in one of the Our Hope Lodges. They have very good accommodations at no charge for those staying there. You can find them on the internet.

ACS holds classes in their I Can Cope Program to educate people about cancer and diminish their fears through knowledge. There are various Retreat Centers across America where cancer patients and their family can go for three day retreats and meet other individuals and families who are sharing the same problem. There is even one in Hawaii that offers a two week retreat. Some of the retreats are specified for breast cancer or prostate cancer or some other form of the disease. Search the internet, you will find many more programs.