23/08/2026
When someone is diagnosed with cancer, the patient isn’t the only person who enters that experience.
There is fear. Uncertainty. Treatment. Side effects. Appointments. Questions about what comes next — and families trying to work out how best to support someone they love through all of it.
When my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, I couldn’t change what was happening to her.
But I could ask:
“What can I do to make this experience a little easier?”
That question led me to train in massage, reflexology and other supportive therapies so I could care for her alongside her medical treatment. I looked after her until she died.
It taught me something that has stayed with me throughout my career:
Care still matters when cure isn’t something we can control.
Appropriate supportive and complementary care can provide comfort, relaxation and human connection, and help people cope with some of the physical and emotional burden surrounding illness and treatment. And support for the family matters too — because they’re living through it alongside the person they love.
Sometimes we can’t change the destination.
But we can profoundly change how someone is cared for along the way.
If you’ve supported someone through cancer or serious illness, what made the biggest difference to them — or to you? Share it below. Someone else going through it may find your answer useful.
Complementary therapies are supportive care and are not substitutes for cancer treatment. People undergoing cancer treatment should discuss complementary therapies with their oncology team and use appropriately trained practitioners.
Caregivers FamilyCaregivers BreastCancerSupport PalliativeCare SupportiveCare LivingWithCancer Reflexology