- All of the emotions that the caregiver go through, like frustration, anxiety, anger, giving up, these are all normal behaviors.

Hello, good morning.

- Good morning.

(gentle piano music) - Hello, my name is Vienafe Jornadal-Recinto, Faye in short, with Nashville General Hospital.

On today's "For Your Good Health," we're going to talk about tips on taking care of your loved ones with cancer.

When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, and the diagnosis is divulged to the family, you would see different types of emotions, which could include frustration, anger, anxiety.

So the family member has to understand that when the patient exhibits anger, anger is a normal emotion that the patient can manifest or display.

So we tell the family member to not take it personally, because the anger that the patient feels is not toward them, but it could be towards the disease.

It's very important to listen.

Most often, family members do not listen, they hear.

Giving the patient space to fully understand his or her condition is very important to the patient's own understanding of the disease.

And also providing privacy, or respecting the patient's privacy is very important.

And at the same time, making sure that you are there for the patient.

Just being near the patient, sometimes it's a way of communicating that you are there to help.

Caregivers have to understand that it is important to take care of yourself as well.

And it is important that family members have to remember that sleep, eating well, going out, having fun, and also talking to other family members or relatives of patients with cancer are things or tips that they can follow in order to protect themselves or keep themselves protected from burnout.

It is very important for the family members to be part of the team.

That is why we want to make sure that you know the tips on how to take care of yourself and how to take care of the patient.

Because the success of the patient's treatment is dependent on how strong the patient support is, and that is you as the caregiver who makes that difference.