November is National Family Caregivers Month!

Caring for someone with blood cancer means pulling a double shift—providing them with help, comfort, and compassion, while managing your own stress and fatigue. We know this is a role you didn’t expect but have risen to meet as best you can. It’s a role that is critical and can be both heartbreaking and rewarding.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) knows that caregivers have roles they didn’t expect but have risen to meet as best they can. We also know how critical their role is to you, their loved one. This National Family Caregivers Month, we want to acknowledge caregivers and the sacrifices they make.

To ensure that caregivers get answers to their questions and feel supported throughout their patient’s diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship, LLS provides free resources and services developed just for them. Our Information Specialists are highly trained oncology social workers and nurses who personally assist in treatment, financial, and emotional challenges. They can help with communicating effectively with healthcare team members and get answers to questions they have as caregivers.

The LLS Caregiver Workbook and Worksheets provide a guide for managing all aspects of their patient’s blood cancer and space to track all activities related to diagnosis and treatment to help bridge care between healthcare professional teams that may support their patient.

LLS has also created online spaces where caregivers can connect with one another to discuss the successes and challenges in their role supporting a person with blood cancer. LLS Community is an online gathering space where caregivers can join various groups to ask questions, get support and receive education resources. The weekly online Caregiver chat is moderated by a licensed clinical professional who helps guide and support conversations between caregivers.

This, and every month, we appreciate all caregivers as we work together to help blood cancer patients live longer, healthier lives. If anyone you know needs caregiver support, LLS can help. Use our online referral form at https://lls.org/article/patient-referral-form