Breast Cancer Support: Being There With Food
Sharing food is a central act in life. It has a power that extends beyond providing for nutrition and physical survival. The offering of bread is central to so many of the world’s religious celebrations’ it obviously feeds the soul along with the body. There is a healing power in these food traditions which is rooted in the heart of community.
If you have recently received a phone call from a friend breaking the dreaded news of her breast cancer diagnosis, you are probably wracking your brain as how to best support her over the coming months of treatment. It would be perfectly natural or instinctive to place feeding her or her family at the top of your list. However, it is important to make sure that your help does not become a burden to your friend in any way and end up defeating the best of your intentions.
A few thoughtful considerations can go a long way in ensuring that you will be welcomed when you ring her doorbell or step in through the back door over the next few months. Before automatically assuming that your cooking is what she wants, be direct and ask her family. Sometimes there is a family member who already does that job and finds comfort in the task. You certainly would not want to try to disrupt this. Maybe in that case your friend would prefer knowing that you could help with laundry or cleaning on some scheduled basis. These tasks are often overlooked by individuals hoping to help.
If after your initial inquiries, cooking does still appear to be a truly helpful way to contribute to your friend’s situation, there are further considerations to make. Ask the family to be upfront about food likes and dislikes, perhaps getting them to share a few favorite recipes. Naturally, you will want to know about any ingredient allergies, vegetarian requirements or religious restrictions. Stay away from too many rich dishes and concentrate on simple, straightforward nutrition. You do not want the family to feel as though they have been constantly eating on a cruise liner.
Meals should be delivered in containers that the family can keep or recycle. Alternatively, you can set up a system where they can leave empty serving dishes on the porch for you to pick up on your next delivery date. Individual sized servings all ready for the freezer can be a terrific boost for the family that has erratic individual schedules. Remember, too, that the breast cancer patient is going to have her dietary challenges as she responds to chemotherapy. So be sure to ask along the way about any personal accommodations you might be able to make for her.
Enlisting mutual friends to help with the cooking and delivery schedule can make this a beneficial community experience for everyone. You can get friends together for a cooking party, making numerous casseroles or self-contained meals to stock a freezer. This can be a fun-packed event bringing everyone closer while fulfilling an important need. Ensure that your friend and her family know you do not want them to be weighed down by any notion of Thank-you notes. Her return to wellness is the best thanks anyone could receive.
Brit Winfield is the director of online services for the Fight Like A Girl T-Shirt Store. She also publishes breast cancer survival stories to uplift women. Visit this growing resource: Fight Like A Girl Agianst Breast Cancer.
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