November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. This is the ideal time for you as a family caregiver to learn more about this disease and how it can impact your aging parent. With this awareness, you can better monitor your senior’s health and condition, encourage them to make proactive decisions about their health, and prepare your care routine in the event lung cancer becomes a part of your senior’s later years.
Some things you should know about lung cancer include:
*More than 540,000 people throughout the United States who are living today have been diagnosed with lung cancer at some point in their lives
*More than 234,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed throughout the country this year
*This represents approximately 13 percent of all cancer diagnoses
*The risk for developing lung cancer increases with age
*Approximately 86 percent of those living with lung cancer currently are over the age of 60
*Most of those currently living with lung cancer received their cancer diagnosis within the last five years
*Lung cancer five-year survival rate is lower than cancer of many other areas of the body, including the prostate, colon, and rectum
*Survival rate greatly increases among those cases that are identified when the cancer is still localized, meaning it has not spread throughout the body
*More than 50 percent of those diagnosed with lung cancer will die within one year of diagnosis
*Up to 90 percent of deaths associated with lung cancer have smoking as a contributing cause
*Male smokers are 23 percent more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers
*Female smokers are 13 percent more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers
*Exposure to secondhand smoke increases risk for nonsmokers by 20 to 30 percent
In-home care can be a valuable resource when your aging parent is living with cancer. As a family caregiver, you want your parent to manage their cancer journey in the way that is right for them, but also to continue living their best life. This means handling all of their personal needs while also following through with their cancer care routine.
An in-home care services provider can help your parent manage these needs in a way that supports their independence, respects them as a whole individual, and promotes quality of life as a whole individual. As a family caregiver, this also helps to relieve your stress and boost your own well-being as you focus more on your relationship with your parent and quality time together.
Sources: https://www.lungcancer.org/
https://www.lung.org/lung-health-and-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/lung-cancer/resource-library/lung-cancer-fact-sheet.html