The Valerie Fund Blog

Hope is one of the greatest allies supporting quality of life. Hope can be a major tool of empowerment and an element for sustaining life and the will to live. We hope for better times. We hope for remission. April is the National Month of Hope and we're going to take a look at what that means for children battling cancer and blood disorders as well as what role it can play in all of our lives.

Well-being and wellness has been a recurring theme lately on this blog (click here to read about self-care for family caregivers and click here to read about how to reduce stress). It has never been more important to ensure your emotional well-being is taken care of but in today's world it can seem to be more difficult than ever to do just that. Today we are going to take a look at another aspect of emotional wellness.

Physicians are trained to utilize modern scientific means to combat cancer at its source, but they are the first to admit these treatments that “cure” can take a huge toll on the patient.  The side effects of chemotherapy and radiation are well known: pain, discomfort, nausea and other issues that require their own set of treatments. That the physical well-being of the patients with life-threatening illnesses is inextricably linked to their emotional state has become widely accepted. Merging integrative health services with medical care and psychosocial support can improve the quality of treatment for these patients.