Tips for Helping to Keep Mesothelioma Patients’ Spirits Up

• Joseph Belluck
• Faces of Mesothelioma, Uncategorized

When you or a loved one are undergoing treatment for mesothelioma, it is an easy thing to do to start to feel down. Keeping your spirits up can help everything to go more smoothly. While my Dad was having surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, his spirits were great 99.9% of the time.  Sometimes, it felt like he was the one keeping me smiling as he always did!

Here are some ways Dad kept his spirits high and some things that have worked for me over the past couple of years:

1. Pray. It’s as simple as that.
2. Get involved in the mesothelioma community. Sharing what you and your loved ones are going through with others who really understand is such a comfort. It reminds you that, even when you feel at your lowest point, you are not alone in this fight.
3. Share stories and watch home movies. It’s so much fun to watch those funny moments back.  It’s a time to reminisce and laugh at yourselves. Those funny clothes we all wore are, in themselves, definitely enough to get a chuckle or two out of everyone watching.
4. Plan ahead. Talk about upcoming events that will happen after the treatment is over. If you don’t have anything going on, plan something! A picnic, a day trip, anything that you and your family enjoy doing together. Dad was always looking forward to the next thing, and it was a shining example of heroism.

Even though these activities can serve as wonderful distractions from the problem at hand, it’s also important to let the one with mesothelioma sort of lead the conversation and activity level. Just because these things were helpful for my family, doesn’t necessarily mean they will be for yours. You have to read the situation and find a healthy balance that works for you. The important thing is to not let the drama and sadness overtake you. There is still much to live and work for… God will get you through!