How to Encourage Someone With Brain Cancer

According to information from the medical website Medline Plus, brain cancer can cause a number of undesirable symptoms, including visual, auditory and vocal impairments, along with cognitive dysfunctions such as memory problems and difficulty thinking along logical lines. Encouraging someone with this condition is not easy, but it
can go a long way toward helping him to cope with the disease.

Instructions

Encouraging Someone with Brain Cancer

• 1

  Make yourself fully available to the patient to discuss her feelings about the condition. According to information from the American Cancer Society, active listening is one of the best things you can do to help an individual with cancer. Whether that means listening to the patient vent, cry or reminisce about the past, do so with an open heart and a sympathetic ear, giving the time, attention and patience that you would want if you were similarly situated.

• 2

  Remain encouraging and upbeat, even where the patient is suffering from a negative prognosis or is exhibiting an unusually high degree of unwanted symptoms and side effects from the cancer itself or the treatment. Chances are good that the patient has enough negative thoughts already. If you remain positive in the face of impossible odds, that can give the patient a measure of hope.

• 3

  Allow the patient to set the tone for the manner and quality of your interactions. Note that while many people like to discuss their condition openly, others prefer to keep things to themselves, using more introspective coping mechanisms to deal with brain cancer. Never try to force conversation about the topic. It is likely that the patient spends most of his time thinking about the fact that he has brain cancer, so do not compound the issue by attempting to force conversation.