Yüksel Ürün, Medical Oncology Professor at Ankara University School of Medicine, shared a post on X:
“Cancer doesn’t just change the patient; it changes their family too.
And more often than not, the burden of that family falls on people who are at an age when they should be resting.
Spouses or siblings in their 70s or 80s become the greatest source of support for patients undergoing heavy treatment. They bring them to the hospital, keep track of their medications, and stay by their bedside at night. Meanwhile, they rarely even voice their own pains, fatigue, or illnesses.
And yet, sometimes they are met with impatience.
Their questions are dismissed.
Their slow speech, slow steps, or asking the same question again is seen as a ‘burden.’
But they are not just elderly people.
They are caregivers carrying an invisible load on their shoulders for the ones they love.
A society’s true civilization lies not in how it treats its fastest walkers, but in how it treats its slowest.
The respect we show to elderly caregivers is, in truth, a mirror reflecting the value we place on our patients.”
Other articles featuring Yüksel Ürün on OncoDaily.