When a person is diagnosed with a disease as life-threatening as leukemia, many people step up and say "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help."  That's a kind and generous response, but frequently, patients and their families are hesitant to ask others to help.  Sometimes they are so overwhelmed by the amount of information they get, the emotions they feel, and the technicalities of treatment that they don't think about asking friends and colleagues for help.  The family often can't even think of how other people can help.  When the patient is an adult in the family, it can be that much harder for the other adult in the household (assuming that there are 2 adults) to carry on with all the usual family activities.

Do you know a family dealing with leukemia who you'd like to help?  We have lots of suggestions for things you can offer to do for the patient and/or family, especially when the patient is an adult...

• Offer transportation to the patient if s/he is being treated as an out-patient.  Treatments can be tiring and patients often can't drive themselves.  Sometimes family members can't take much time off work without losing salary to take a patient for treatments.

• Offer to organize a 'transportation pool,' setting up a schedule of who will drive when, so the family knows it will be handled   one less detail they have to worry about is always appreciated.

• Provide child care for other children at home when needed.  Offer to call other friends of the family and organize a child care schedule.

• If other children are at home, offer to drive them to lessons, sports events, or other activities they usually go to, so that they don't miss out on their usual routines.

• Offer to go grocery shopping for the family, clean the house, do laundry, mow the lawn, take care of pets, or do any of the numerous little things that are a regular part of running the household.

• Make meals for the family; whether you freeze them so the family has a convenient 'heat-'em-and-eat-'em" meal, or deliver them hot and ready to eat is always appreciated.

• Offer to run errands for the family.

• If the patient is in the hospital for any length of time, and the adult(s) in the house spends long days with him or her, pack a lunch or healthy snack and take it to the adult to take with him/her.

• When appropriate, offer to drive children to the hospital to visit with the parent who is the patient.

• Organize and hold a fund-raising event to help the family pay expenses not covered by insurance, or to compensate for lost income.

• Do research for the family to find other sources of financial assistance.

• Offer to organize a home 'wash-down' before the patient comes home from the hospital, following guidelines set by the hospital medical team.

• Find out what kinds of gifts the hospital will allow the patient to receive..organize friends and colleagues so something special is sent to the patient on a regular basis.

• Make a video with friends and colleagues, in which everyone records a special message for the patient; deliver it to the family or directly to the patient, if allowed.

• Offer to set up a 'patient update' web site or phone tree so the family has to contact only one person, rather than several, to keep everyone informed of the patient's progress.

• When appropriate, do something special for the spouse/partner of the patient to help him/her reduce stress; for example, take him/her out to dinner, arrange for a massage, or take an hour and go for a long walk outdoors.