Being a caregiver to someone with a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) — a group of blood cancers that begins in the bone marrow — includes providing both practical and emotional supports, explained Ed Bartholemy.
Bartholemy, who was one of the eight honorees during the 11th annual MPN Heroes® recognition event, was a caregiver to his wife, Nancy, who had myelofibrosis for 40 years before the disease went into remission in 2021 thanks to a stem cell transplant. As her disease progressed before the transplant, it became more difficult for Nancy to take care of herself and complete household tasks, such as cooking and cleaning.
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However, another major aspect of cancer caregiving is just being a friend to the loved one with cancer and making their “limited world as fun and as good as it could be,” said Bartholemy, who is also a member of the MPN Research Foundation Board of Directors.
Transcript
Well, a lot of (cancer caregiving) is practical. You know, there’s things that the patient can no longer do, eventually I was doing the laundry and the cooking and all the household stuff, and also taking care of her medications and things like that. But I think the more important part of it really is being a friend and being a partner. And you know, her life was limited by her disease. So, we tried to make that limited world as fun as it can be, as good as it can be.
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