Caregiving
There are over 60 million adult caregivers in the U.S. Whether you are a partner, parent, sibling, child, friend, or extended family member caring for an AYA, we see you and we value you!
AYA caregivers are as unique as the patients they care for, but they often put themselves last. Many struggle with physical, emotional, and mental health issues during their loved one’s cancer journey. Supporting your patient and supporting yourself is a lot and it’s ok to not be ok all the time.
Caregivers are very much part of the Stupid Cancer and AYA Cancer community. Just as it can be incredibly meaningful and healing for patients and survivors to talk with others who share their experiences, finding a community of fellow caregivers can be helpful to process the challenges of caregiving.
You deserve support, care, and community. You can find it here.
“As a caregiver, you want to be there every second of their treatment, but sometimes you have to stop and take care of yourself too.”
— Mónica, age 57, parent caregiver
Caregiving Resources
Caregiver Video Stories
Caregiver Stories From Our Community
CancerCon 22
Reading Time: 2 minutesMy first in-person CancerCon experience went well. I was nervous thinking about the trip. I do not travel much but I thought, “Why not try it out?”. I am happy that I did, and I was able to meet individuals that I only saw online. I had the opportunity to
Stupid Cancer is the Family We’ve Been Seeking for So Long
Reading Time: 4 minutesI will be completely honest in saying I was dreading going to CancerCon. The closer the dates got, the bigger the knot grew in my stomach. I spent a year crying almost every day while my son faced so many obstacles throughout treatment and grieving the way life was for
Surviving Guilt
Reading Time: 6 minutesIn December 2018, I decided to do a self breast exam while sitting in the bath. I hadn’t looked into how to do one properly, but I figured if I used some shower gel and just went to town it’d be better than nothing. To my surprise, I found what