How Do You Help A Friend?

The Start of the Day...

I have a good friend who is undergoing a traumatic experience. Having never been sick her entire life, she discovered she had a tumor in her stomach. Within days she was in surgery. 

They removed a tumor almost 30cm and weighing 6 kilograms~huge~in fact it was one of the largest removed at Shaare Zedek hospital! It had destroyed her reproductive organs and badly damaged her kidneys. The specialist was pleased the kidneys were saved but she had to have a stent in for several weeks.

She was in hospital eleven days. Then she was told that the biopsy diagnosis was Leiomyosarcoma (LMS). It is a recurring soft tissue sarcoma that does not go away and in fact continuously recurs all over the body, except, oddly enough in the breast tissue. CT Scans must be done every three months.

Just months after the surgery she had a spot show on her lung. Three months later it had doubled in size and a new stomach lesion appeared. The doctors are attempting a harsh series of chemotherapy treatments in the hope that if her body can tolerate the treatment it will shrink the lesions. This will never end~my friend is facing a continuous series of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.

My question is, how can one be of help? You can't keep saying "be positive" when you are standing on the outside watching the progress of the treatments for this disease. I seems to me that:- when your hair is falling out, you are nauseous all day and night, have no taste or appetite, and no energy to even stand up, someone telling you to be positive is ludicrous! She told me this week that the only thing she feels like eating is mustard~I have no response to that!

All in all she seems to be handling it well, and really trying to be up beat and even a bit active, but she is scared~who would not be! What I am really looking for is ways to be helpful. I go with her for the hospital treatments, try to bring things like food, etc., but I am limited in my own resources. She obviously can't work, and disability here is not overly generous. 

How do people who live alone survive? How can we help? I am open to all suggestions. 

In the meantime, if you are interested in following her case she is trying to keep her blogs updated on treatment and benefits for disabilities. She blogs in English ( HERE ) and in German ( HERE ) and ( HERE ) and posts updates on her YouTube Channel. Please do pay a visit to her sites.

I would also like to emphasize that during this difficult time she is in great need of financial assistance. The hardest thing when one is so ill is to also worry about not being able to work and pay the rent or buy food. So, if you are able, please visit one of her sites~the English site is called Shearim, and click on the Donate button to buy her a coffee (or some mustard!  Most of all...Please Pray!