I have not had cancer, but have had some very lengthy medical problems. A bout of pneumonia that lasted almost 8 months. A shredded lip from a dog bite with recurrent staph infections for about 6 months (let's hope that is all, so far I've not had an ER visit for about 30 days).
I am a very independent person. If someone told me "Call me if you need something" I would NEVER call. Because I had issues that I kept hoping would be resolved "next week", I never let people know how I was drowning in the tasks needed to keep my household going.
What really helped me were the people who recognized what needed to be done and just said "I'm going to the grocery store to buy you groceries. Do you have any special requests?"
I remember just lying in bed unable to do anything - but with so many things that needed to be done. My sister really came to my rescue the second time around as I was also having to move out of the home I had shared with my father (who died in Dec.) Not only was it my stuff, but the things that my late parents had accumulated over 65 years.
Rides for chemo, pet care, childcare, lawncare are all needed. Think about what you are doing for your own home. Just do that for theother person too. It might even be making Christmas cookies later this year. Could you put up a few Halloween decorations, buy the trick or treat stuff and volunteer to give out stuff at their house? When you are very ill it is so hard just to answer the door.
I would have loved to have gone out my front door and seen that someone had weeded the garden beds and put in a few flowers.
