CancerCare
CancerCare is a national nonprofit organization that has been in service since 1944 and offers free informational and professional support services to any patients, family, friends, or caregivers who have found their lives affected by cancer. The company’s websites garner approximately 1 million unique visitors on an annual basis, while its services helped more than 100,000 people in 2009.
The support groups offered by the organizations vary between online, telephone, and face-to-face groups for patients suffering from all types of cancer, mesothelioma included. Online groups are available to those who need them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are led by an oncology social worker. Bereavement groups are also available to those who have lost a child, partner, or loved one to cancer.
Telephone support groups are designed to bring those who have been diagnosed with cancer together for weekly one-hour phone calls that are also facilitated by an oncology social worker. After being matched with patients or caregivers who are going through a similar ordeal as they get treatment for their illness, the conversations are meant to provide support and camaraderie during such a complicated process.
Face-to-Face meetings are set to take place weekly at a number of the organization’s offices or collaborating facilities located throughout the New York Tri-State Area. Patients, caregivers, and those who have lost people close to them to cancer are all encouraged to take part in the groups. For those living outside the Tri-State Area, CancerCare can help and find a local support group that can provide similar help to patients who need it.
CancerCare also offers a number of financial assistance programs for those who are falling into debt while financing their cancer treatments. Through different assistance groups they offer, as well as a Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition, those in dire financial straits are given different avenues to pursue as they look to get out of debt.
In addition to receiving care and getting the proper support system in line following a malignant mesothelioma, many patients and their families may be interested in pursuing potential litigation through
asbestos law in order to receive a
mesothelioma settlement from companies who may have been responsible for their
asbestos exposure.
For those who want to learn about their legal rights, consult a
mesothelioma attorney in order to see if one’s mesothelioma cancer diagnosis may be the first step in a
mesothelioma lawsuit that could result in a settlement.