I found out a very good friend of mine has a rare disease. How can I help them and myself cope?

She's such an amazing person and she just found out she's got a rare cancer that could very well take her life. How can I be a good friend and help her cope and how can I deal with this situation myself? It's been eating at me ever since she told me and I could use some advice.

Remember that she's still your friend and that she needs you to still see her that way and interact with her that way. Let her talk when she needs to talk. Let her question anything in her life when she needs to do so. Offer to drive her to and from appointments if she needs it. Tell her if she's feeling too sick to cook for herself, you can help (if you're willing to do so).

Be her shoulder to cry on and her rock and her friend, just as you have always been.

Try to find as much information about this disease so that you can be there for her and understand to a certain degree what shes going through. Educating each other may help but other than that there really isnt much else you can do for her other than just being there.

I wish you both the best of luck

Be there in the good days and the bad days. Don't be afraid to cry with her. If she is going into treatments, there will be many things to do. Take her food, help with housework, etc. Depending on who else she has to help her, she will need transportation to the clinic. I'm sooo sorry. My sister-in-law has just had both breasts removed and gone through the treatments. My best to you and her.

Be a good friend & find a support group for yourself e.g. friends of her particular cancer sufferers online or in Yahoo groups.

I think just be there for her and let her talk about her emotions and feelings. She needs to have someone to talk to that will listen without judgement. She will have good days and bad days - but just make sure that she knows you are there for her. Sit quietly and let her come to grips with it. This will help her and when you see it helping her it will help you. Good luck and god bless your friend.

I think the main thing is to be there for her.Knowing that she won't be alone fighting this thing.You can be an major encouragement for her.My dad has terminal cancer and I'm moving there to be with him.We sometime don't talk alot but just my being there makes a difference.The times we do talk, it's hard for me not to cry,but there's no shame in that.Try and be strong and hang in there, and be the best friend you can.God bless both of you.She's lucky to have you as a friend.

When I was going through cancer, what made me feel better and helped me cope was to know that my friends, and family were there with me through the whole thing. It was very important to me to get phone calls and text messages asking how I was doing everyday, knowing that people cared about me and that i wasn't forgotten. Specially when i was in a hospital that was 3hrs away from my hometown. Its a really hard thing to go through all I can say is stand by her every step of the way.
Good luck! and I hope your friend gets through this, and comes out of it cancer free.

As for helping her...be there for her and be the best friend you can be. The answers above have all been excellent as far as what you can do for her...As for yourself...Just try to tell her everything you need to tell her. Sometimes we don't say things to even our best friends for one reason or another. Leave NOTHING unsaid. Make sure she knows you love her as her best friend. Nothing is really going to help you with this situation other than time. Some towns have support groups for the friends and families of people with terminal diseases. Join one of those groups so you can talk and cry with them. Good luck. God Bless!

just accept it. expect the worst but still be there as much as you can for your friend and let her know you are there for her. thats about all you can do but thats enough.

i think the last thing she'd want is for you to be unhappy or for you to pity her so try and focus on making the most of the time that you spend together and should the worst happen, make sure that these are the memories that you keep close to your heart. My Aunt died of breast cancer last year and i found it hard being happy around her because she knew that she was going to pass. At least we all got to tell her how much she meant to us and how much we loved her before she went. If there is a possibility that she may lose her battle with cancer, you may want to take the opportunity to tell her anything that you may have been too afraid to tell her before because it would be such a tragedy if she was to go without you telling her something you've kept a secret thats she should know.

Just be there for her is the best thing that you can do. Never show that you are being eatten by this. The support is going to have to be uplifting. When she is on her up days see her and even on her down days. Humor is always the best medicine so if you can bring things to cheer her up and bring a smile even if it is only for a little while, it will be the most memorable! My BIL was dying of cancer and I sent him an energizer bunny. Just told him I wanted to keep him going and going and....... Well, it's just the little things in life that really matter. I would have never thought a grown man thought that to be the best encouraging gift he ever recieved, but it was for him. You might even send daily quotes or messages. These will be things she will look forward to seeing every day and more smiles between pain.

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