For some reason, my site is not letting me post a video. I wanted to talk about how to encourage patients and caregivers affected by cancer during this month.

So, I’ve posted the video on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaYaugerWriter

I’ve also put a direct Facebook link here:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1093495081649164&ref=sharing

I hope you check it out. Meanwhile, lift someone’s spirits today and encourage one another.

If you’re unable to see the video, here is the transcript:

“So here we are in the middle of October, and I’ve been trying to write a blog post to acknowledge Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which usually happens in October, and as a three-time cancer survivor, two times with two different kinds of breast cancer, it is something I do like to speak about. The blog post just wasn’t coming together. I don’t know why, so I just thought I’d have a conversation here.

And I guess the one thing I want to say, I mean, I could talk about my own cancer journey. You know, we all know someone affected by cancer, whether it’s ourselves or someone we love. It’s just way too common these days. But one thing that’s not always talked about is the emotional toll of cancer. It’s not just the physical toll. It’s not the surgeries or the radiation or the chemotherapy any kind of treatment. It’s the emotional toll of cancer, and it can be a lot.

The scars can be a lot. Your scars can either be a sign of strength or a sign of maybe what you’ve lost, if you want to look at it that way. And the emotions of your life gets turned upside down when you are first diagnosed with cancer and while you’re through treatment. It can be quite the roller coaster ride, and it’s a toll on you as the cancer patient, and it’s a toll on those around you, your spouses and your family and your friends.

I think my only advice I’d give if you were trying to… if you, if you have a loved one with cancer, is they’re going through a lot, as we all know, and and their world is upside down, as yours probably is too, but their world is upside down.

And so the one thing you can do as a friend or as a family member of someone who’s going through cancer is to treat them normally. They want to be normal.

There’s nothing in their world that’s normal when you’re in the midst of treatment. And so to have a normal time, a normal conversation; for your friends, to treat you like they always have is really wonderful. That’s the breath of fresh air.

Take a cancer patient to have coffee, to have lunch, if they’re physically able to. If not, bring the coffee and lunch into them and sit down and just have a conversation like you normally would have before the cancer diagnosis happened.

Give someone who’s going through cancer something normal, a sense of normalcy, even for just an hour or two. Sometimes, that can make all the difference and keep them going to let them know that, yes, hopefully they are going to get through this, and normal life will return. You can do the same for a family member too, or a caregiver of someone going through cancer. Give them something normal when the world is so out of whack.

So maybe that’s the best advice I can give as someone who craved normalcy during my cancer journeys, give someone a sense of warm up, treat them like they always were because inside, there’s still that person.

Be blessed today. Encourage one another. Thanks for listening.”