Cancer patients not only suffer the torture of disease, also have to bear the pressure from many things, so the patients’ families should not only concern about the therapeutic effect, but should follow the three principles that are mental nursing, diet nursing and pain nursing to look after patients well, helping them go through hard anti-cancer times smoothly.

Principle of Mental Care

Patients’ families should pay more attention to mental care, giving patients psychological comfort, helping them set up positive emotions, eliminating their anxiety and fear, thus patients enable to cooperate with doctors with a positive and optimistic attitude. Besides, the families also should often accompany and talk with patients, encourage them to express their true feelings, which can not only help doctors know patients’ psychological conditions and also is a good way to help patients release their mental pressure, however, when patients are reluctant to talk, families cannot force them.

Some advanced patients will develop the fear of being ignored and abandoned and this fear becomes particularly serious in the night, in this case, it is highly recommended that family members stay with patients in hospital, making patients feel comfort. At any time, families should give patients care and support, because the families' concern is the most direct source of power.

Principle of Diet Care

Cancer is a kind of wasting disease. When surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy is being performed, proper diet care is essential to ensure treatment going on smoothly. Their families should provide different diet depending on patient's condition and the digestion and absorption capacity. Patients treating with radiotherapy and chemotherapy may have poor appetite or abnormal sense of taste, so families can create a pleasant and comfortable dining environment and appropriately add some flavorings to enhance their appetite. As patients’ conditions are different, their diets do not need to be the same. Based on the specific situation, families should consult doctor, nurse and dietitian to give patients proper diet.

Principle of Pain Care

There are many causes of pain for cancer patients and different causes should de coped with accordingly, so doctor should apply treatment such as radiotherapy, surgery or medicine to relieve the pain while which treatment should be used is based on the patients’ specific conditions. If the patients are getting too nervous and anxious, their pain may get worse. At this time, families should try to discuss the topics that patients like, let patients listen to music, watch TV to distract attention. In addition, cold wet compress and hot wet compress also can be used to help patients relieve pain.

Above all, families play an important role in mental, diet and pain care for cancer patients. Without families’ care and nursing, it is hard for cancer patients to bear the suffering alone, so the families should follow the three gold principles, help patients go through the hard anti-cancer times smoothly.

*Surgery, in addition to the appropriate chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are effective in treating early cancer, but certain patients in late stage of cancer may not be tolerate surgery well as they can be relatively weak. A combination of carefully planned minimally invasive therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy can effectively reduce the side effects and discomfort of treatment and may help patient get better efficacy.