Managing Care Partner Guilt in the Myeloma Journey

A common care partner challenge is managing guilt when engaging in activities for personal wellness, especially if the multiple myeloma patient cannot participate. Panelists openly share initially stopping their own hobbies, like daily walks, out of this guilt, which negatively impacted their well-being. Overcoming this requires open communication; patients often encourage their care partners to maintain these vital outlets. Learning to accept help from friends and family for small tasks is crucial to creating guilt-free personal time. The panel emphasizes giving yourself grace, acknowledging that you cannot maintain a pre-diagnosis life while trying to master the complex new role of a myeloma care partner. For times of overwhelming stress or persistent guilt, seeking short-term professional therapy is presented as a vital and effective tool for resilience. The collective advice is to prioritize self-care without guilt, as sustaining your own mental and physical health is fundamental to providing compassionate, long-term support.