Video: Why you should accept help when you have cancer

A Mayo Clinic expert explains why it's important to accept help when you have cancer

Shawna L. Ehlers, Ph.D., L.P.: One of the best things that patients can do when they're diagnosed with cancer is allow other people to help them.

Often people feel like they don't want to be a burden. And so they won't share. But sometimes that leaves the loved ones feeling like they're just helplessly watching, almost through a glass wall, watching somebody they love, and they can't do anything.

But if you can think of a way that that person can be genuinely helpful, it might actually help them feel helpful, and give back in a reciprocal relationship.

These are the things that families and communities are made of — those connections, those networks.

Sometimes it's better for me and my loved ones if they can help me and they're a (part of my) team. Cancer is a team sport so to speak. You can't do it alone, and everybody is better off working together.

Dr. Ehlers has devoted her career to helping people face cancer with resilience.