Anita was diagnosed with cancer four years ago, but her family and friends still don鈥檛 know about her diagnosis. She and her husband, Oliver, told their children, but no one else.
鈥淲e never disclosed our problems,鈥 Oliver says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e ever going to tell friends and family.鈥
Oliver and Anita (not their real names) didn鈥檛 want a 鈥渂arrage of questions鈥 from well-meaning family and friends, so they chose not to tell them about her diagnosis. The pandemic made it easy for them to keep the diagnosis private. They kept up with phone calls to family and friends when Anita was feeling well, but they never spoke about her health.
鈥淲e kept positive by talking with them about other things,鈥 Oliver says. 鈥淲e made our life smooth and joyous.鈥
Staying positive
Oliver became his wife鈥檚 caregiver and took over the cooking while she was going through treatment. They tried different recipes, exercised, read religious books and watched uplifting programs on TV. They even went on a cruise.
They got involved at Waterford Place Cancer Resource Center, a not-for-profit that offers services, support and programming, free of charge, to anyone affected by a cancer diagnosis. At Waterford Place, they participated in a variety of programs and received the support they needed from the staff and other participants.
鈥淭he staff is beyond exceptional,鈥 Oliver says. 鈥淭hey go out of their way to help people. They are very, very nice people.鈥
The couple got involved with a support group at Waterford Place. 鈥淲e shared everything with our support group,鈥 he says, including ideas, thoughts and feelings.
Learning to provide care
Waterford Place helped provide the couple with stress relief and peace of mind, Oliver says. Anita benefited from skin care and hair treatment services as well as yoga classes. She experienced numerous side effects from her treatment, including neuropathy. Reflexology helped her tingling feet. She went for body massage and reiki.
Oliver accompanied his wife to the programs and learned to provide reiki and the other services at home.
鈥淲aterford Place helped me to provide her better care,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 learned from watching reflexology, reiki and even facials. In our critical time, Waterford Place provided very useful programs that had a positive impact on her and our entire family.鈥
Waterford Place also provided them with useful items at no charge, including pillows, blankets and skin care products.
鈥淭hey are a blessing, not only to us, but to all other cancer patients,鈥 Oliver says. 鈥淲aterford Place changed her life and her attitude in a positive way. We will never forget the genuine caring they gave us and continue to give to so many people. Waterford Place, we applaud you and are forever in your debt.鈥
