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Caregiving for My Husband's RARE Cancer After Losing My Sister and Being Diagnosed MYSELF!

The Patient Story

31,270 views

When her sister was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Nan stepped in as caregiver and advocate, even as she faced her own breast cancer diagnosis. Then her husband Jim noticed unusual skin lesions that led to a rare blood cancer diagnosis, BPDCN. Nan shares what the cancer caregiver experience really looks like: advocating for a spouse, knowing when to step back and let your loved one lead, managing hospital stays and family updates, and preparing home for transplant recovery. Her advice for every care partner: listen to your gut and always advocate for your person.

Thank you, Nanette, for sharing your story to help others.

#cancerpatient #cancersurvivor #patientstories #thepatientstory #cancertreatment #cancerprevention #cancersymptoms

The Patient Story:
The Patient Story is led by a dedicated team of medical, editorial, and video experts, committed to authentically portraying the cancer patient experience. Sharing your story holds transformative power, culturally and personally. We handle each narrative with utmost care, compassion, and scientific rigor.

Our editorial process adheres to the highest journalistic standards, ensuring medically researched, vetted, and fact-checked content. Backed by experienced medical professionals, we offer insights into the latest medical advancements.

Beyond patient narratives, we provide comprehensive coverage of cancer news and medical resources. From symptoms to clinical trials, insurance, finances, and support groups, we offer guidance in a humanized manner.

Chapters:
00:00 - Cancer Caregiver for My Sister and My Husband
00:55 - Pancreatic Cancer Caregiver: Advocating at the First Appointment
03:03 - Stage 1 Breast Cancer Diagnosis While Caregiving
03:59 - Unusual Skin Lesions: Pushing for a Biopsy and My Husband's Diagnosis
07:24 - Supporting My Husband's Cancer Treatment Decisions
09:03 - Caregiver Support: Hospital Stays, Family Updates, and Friends
12:44 - Stem Cell Transplant Caregiver: Preparing for Home Recovery
17:02 - Caregiver Advice: Always Advocate for Your Person

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20 Comments

@me21again30 2 days ago (edited)

You are amazing! Thank God you saw the "walnut" on his back. What a horrible diagnosis that could have been " missed" if not for you. Your love and advocacy truly shines through. You have a fabulous way of speaking..and teaching others with your story. Thank you! Hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself. So glad you have such a support system too!❤🎉

@brandip77 1 day ago

You are incredibly strong. Everyone needs a fierce advocate like you. Your insistence that they biopsy that rash, may have saved your husband’s life. I hope someone is taking care of you, as well as you’ve taken care of others. God bless both of you.

@cathytauscher6760 2 days ago

Stem cell transplant candidates cannot move forward unless they have a designated caregiver or caregivers to assist them in the recovery at home. I’m sorry this family has had to go through so much.

@Aditya-f8t5z 2 days ago

Love to all cancer patients...<3

@yvonneboaten8289 1 day ago

You a good sister and husband. Your attentiveness helped a lot. We thank God for showing you all mercy. ❤❤❤

@claudiarusso6702 1 day ago

Bless this beautiful lady. 🙏❤️

@lauramatsuyama9742 2 days ago

What a tuff situation.
Take care of yourself.

Blessings!

@CJE2007.5 15 hours ago

Thank you for sharing your story with us. We have been down the cancer road with a lot of my wifes family including her dad being diagnosed with prostate cancer. My wife has been in the medical field for 30 years so she was expected to do everything for all 5 family members that were diagnosed with cancer over the last 10 years. It was so hard on her. We have had our own medical issues over the last 17 years from almost losing our daughter. She was born at 28 weeks. My wife had a colon cancer scare and then I destroyed my back and had to have emergency surgery and our son broke his arm in 5 places. My wife had to have a hysterectomy due to another cancer scare and then my appendix burst and our youngest son broke his arm and his hand. And there were many other small things along the way. You are 100% right that sometimes we have to fight our battles and other times we need help. I've always been there for my wife and she's always been there for me. It hasn't always been easy mainly due to finances but we have always made it work. We have never had any big fights/arguments and our rule has always been that we never goto bed angry with each other or without saying I love you. There's only been 1 time in 17 years we stayed up over 24 hours and we both got so tired we kinda forgot what we were upset about and we apologized and laughed at ourselves for being so petty. I love her more than anything in the world and am so thankful to have her by my side. Thank you for sharing your story with us. You are a amazing lady and I'm sure your husband feels the same way about you.

@joannestanley8478 1 day ago

You are a wonderful lady Nanette. Loving, kind, brave, intelligent and selfless. I have great respect for you. Don't be humble now, you are. 😊 With all that is going on you handle it all like a champ putting yourself last but still taking care of yourself. May God truly bless you and your family.

@splash6427 1 day ago

🙏 ❤ 🙏 FOR YOU
ALWAYS & FOREVER

@yvonneboaten8289 1 day ago

How can one family have so much tragedy. God keep them looking uo to you. ❤❤❤

@withheldforprivacy 2 days ago

I question circumstances similar to mine (mom breast cancer, sibling blood cancer), lo and behold Nanette swoop in. is this what it meant when they say I'll pick you back from hell while themselves enduring stages when they're charred into ashes and just happen to be summoned back like a phoenix

@doreenchambers9579 3 hours ago

Very well put. Thank you for this video..

@ElaineSansonetti 2 days ago

Thank you for your perspective.

@GaryBurlingame-z7d 1 day ago

I am a curious person so I always looked at my brothers labs on the hospital portal- which is a GREAT thing to have access to. In very early 2019 I noticed that his WBC (White blood cells) were well below the normal low of 4.0. That made me go back to the portal and I saw the "Past" button and clicked on that and could see the labs several years prior. July of 2017 his WBC was 3.60 and had kept going down to now in 2019 was 2.5. Several different doctors during this time had ordered WBC and NO ONE ever said or had they even paid attention to the ABNORMAL level. I mentioned this to his Dr. early 2019 and at once he was referred to a hematologist. The end result was a part of the WBC is the ANC- absolute neutrophil count was extremely low. Bone barrow Bx. was negative. Whatever was wrong is "unknown etiology". Even U. of Penn said the same thing. The only thing they could do was give GRANIX to help boost the level. They started at when it was 500, but fatigue was his worst physical symptom so I kept stressing that this was so hard on him to live like this and asked to get the med when value was even at 1000. They did. He lived a slow weakening life for three years. The hematologist early on said the fatigue would relate if it was his red blood cells affected. In the end I told her "if they ever find out what this "disease is- fatigue will be a major symptom". BE AN ADVOCATE. (ELaine)

@magdavanderlith925 2 days ago

Very well explained, thank you. Thinking of you. 😊

@Moongypsy1 2 days ago

I had my second TURBT yesterday, and am sitting here at home with a catheter. The bladder cancer doesn't feel real until I sport this catheter around the house. I feel that life is punishing us with cancer or else we would probably live forever.

@ChristopherThompson-x4u 2 days ago

Amazing

@shantishanti1949 8 hours ago

🙏🙏❤️❤️🕊️🕊️

@RMackie 2 days ago

You're very fortunate to have the health care you have and live in the states. I live in canada and our healthcare is complete garbage. Many of us are waiting for critical care that will never happen.