Supporting a Spouse Battling Cancer
- Tennis star Pete Sampras admits his wife and actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras’ ovarian cancer diagnosis is taking an emotional toll on their family. Pete’s appearance has evolved more recently, notably by hair thinning. However, they are finding strength in her journey.
- Research published in The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine says, “Most chronic diseases have similar effects on family members, including psychological and emotional functioning, disruption of leisure activities, and an effect on interpersonal relationships and financial resources.”
- Spouses and partners of loved ones diagnosed with cancer often assume caregiver roles. Gynecologic oncologist Dr. Jayanthi Lea encourages caregivers to come to doctor visits and engage with their care by asking questions and helping their loved ones fulfill treatment recommendations.
- Sometimes, a cancer diagnosis can strengthen a relationship. Psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin recommends cancer patients surround themselves with people who care for and support them throughout treatment while also acknowledging their limits on what they can handle.
- Ovarian cancer is often harder to catch in its early stages because of its subtle symptoms, such as bloating, weight gain, and abdominal pain that can mimic regular menstrual cycle fluctuations. After ovarian cancer patients complete initial treatment, maintenance therapy may be recommended to try and delay possible recurrence.
- Maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer can involve taking an oral pill called a PARP inhibitor every day after chemotherapy and can keep cancer in remission longer. PARP inhibitors prevent cancer cells from repairing their DNA.
The lives of retired tennis star Pete Sampras, 52, and his wife, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, 50, have been on a hugely difficult journey for the last several months following Bridgette’s cancer diagnosis. Last year, they revealed she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December 2022, and it’s been a “challenging time” for the entire family ever since.
“As most have come to know, I am a pretty quiet and private person. However, this past year has been an exceptionally challenging time for my family,” Pete Sampras said in a statement on the social media platform X.
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The impact of supporting his wife appears to be affecting the tennis legend physically. Recent photos of Pete that surfaced earlier this year show his hair is thinning. While this natural aspect of aging may be happenstance, caring for and supporting a loved one battling cancer can affect the spouse and family at large.
Helping Patients Understand Treatment Options for Ovarian Cancer
Supporting a Spouse During Cancer
A life-altering diagnosis can impact the patient and their loved ones emotionally and physically.
Research published in The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine studied the impact of a cancer diagnosis or disease on family members. It found, “Most chronic diseases have similar effects on family members including psychological and emotional functioning, disruption of leisure activities, effect on interpersonal relationships, and financial resources.”
Feelings of “helplessness, lack of control, guilt, anger, embarrassment” are some common emotions parents, siblings, and other relatives within the household of someone battling a health condition may experience, according to researchers.
MacMillan Cancer Support, a charity that advocates for cancer patients, says communication is a vital tool in helping support a partner with cancer, and it could help a couple understand each other better.
“It can help to ask your partner what support they would like and find useful. This makes sure you help where it is most wanted and needed. It can also help you avoid misunderstandings,” the charity said.
Communicating your feelings is something licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin also believes is vital to helping couples dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
She adds that people faced with cancer should “surround [themselves] with individuals who care and support [them]” throughout treatment while also acknowledging their limits on what they can handle.
“Going through [cancer] treatment is a very vulnerable and emotionally exhausting experience,” Dr. Strongin wrote in a column for SurvivorNet. “Noticing what you have strength for and what is feeling like too much [is] extremely important to pay attention to as you navigate treatment.”
Supporting Your Partner as a Caregiver
Cancer patients need to have a robust support system. Having a partner, friend, or family member to help care for and support you through a health struggle can be advantageous.
Although many partners assume a caregiving role when their loved one is diagnosed with cancer, anyone close to the patient can become a caregiver. It’s prudent that caregivers understand their loved one’s diagnosis and assist them when following cancer-care instructions.
Dr. Jayanthi Lea, a gynecologic oncologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet, “I encourage caregivers to come to visits with my patients because, in that way, the caregiver is also listening to the recommendations about what should be done between these visits, any changes in treatment plans, any toxicities [side effects] that we need to look out for, changes in dietary habits, exercise, etc.”
If you are a caregiver of a cancer patient, it is important to maintain your own mental and physical health as well.
“Caregiving is the most important job in the universe because you are there through the highs and lows,” Julie Bulger, manager of patient and family-centered care at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet.
“You are there to support your loved one, to manage all of the daily tasks as everything is changing in your life,” Bulger added.
Caregivers must also watch out for “caregiver burnout,” where stress, anger, fatigue, and illness emerge from putting another person’s needs ahead of their own.
Caregivers who find themselves struggling to care for a cancer patient should seek out a therapist or a support group of their own, either online or in person.
Bridgette’s Ovarian Cancer Journey
Bridgette’s career includes a run as a Teen USA pageant winner in the early 1990s. She was an actress shortly after that, starring in the soap opera “Santa Barbara,” “Last Action Hero,” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” She became a mom in the early 2000s, and roughly two decades later, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
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Ovarian cancer has been called the “cancer that whispers” because women often don’t experience symptoms until their cancer has already reached its late stages. The symptoms that do appear at first are hard to identify as cancer.
“Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center, told SurvivorNet.
Many ovarian cancers begin in the fallopian tubes. A few cancerous cells first grow on the fallopian tubes. Then, as the fallopian tubes brush over the ovary, these cells stick to the ovaries and eventually form a tumor.
“The symptoms include things like feeling full earlier than you usually would when your appetite is strong and feeling bloated, some changes in your bowel habits, and some pain in the pelvis. These are symptoms women may have every month. These are not very specific, but we’ve found this constellation of symptoms from multiple studies,” Dr. Karlan added.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer may include the following, according to SurvivorNet experts.
- A feeling of bloating or fullness
- Pain in the pelvis or abdomen
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Changes in bowel habits
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So far, Bridgette has undergone surgery, chemotherapy, and now maintenance therapy.
The standard of care for ovarian cancer patients is chemotherapy, which helps many patients reach remission.
Ovarian cancer recurrence happens in “almost 25 percent of cases with early-stage diseases and in more than 80 percent with more advanced stages,” according to research published in Gland Surgery medical journal. With recurrence a strong possibility for this disease, especially in the later stages of ovarian cancer, certain drug treatments to deal with it are giving many women hope.
WATCH: Treating ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is sub-categorized into two groups.
- Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer: Your cancer does not return for more than six months after treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies, like carboplatin and cisplatin.
- Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer: Your cancer returns within six months of treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies, like carboplatin and cisplatin.
“The mechanism that causes platinum resistance will cause someone to be resistant to other chemotherapies, as well. That’s why we’re looking for what we call targeted therapies – precision medicine,” Dr. Noelle Cloven from Texas Oncology-Fort Worth Cancer Center explained.
RELATED: Recurrent Ovarian Cancer Treatment Is Your Disease “Platinum-Sensitive”?
Targeted therapies or precision medicine specifically target the proteins controlling cancer cells’ growth, division, and spread.
Maintenance Therapy for Ovarian Cancer
Maintenance therapy is continued treatment after the patient finishes their initial treatment. After an ovarian cancer patient completes a round of treatments — such as surgery and chemotherapy — her doctor may recommend some form of maintenance therapy to try and delay possible recurrence. Maintenance therapy can involve taking an oral pill called a PARP inhibitor every day after chemotherapy and can keep cancer in remission longer.
Genetic testing helps doctors determine the best maintenance therapy.
“The biggest question is: How do you choose between bevacizumab (brand name, Avastin) or a PARP inhibitor for maintenance therapy?” Dr. Alpa Nick, a gynecological oncologist with Tennessee Oncology in Nashville, tells SurvivorNet.
The drugs combat cancer cells in very different ways. PARP inhibitors prevent cancer cells from repairing their DNA, while Avastin blocks the formation of new blood vessels, starving tumors of nutrients.
The Food and Drug Administration approved bevacizumab (Avastin) to be used in conjunction with olaparib (brand name LYNPARZA) in HRD (Homologous Recombination Deficiency) positive women who show a response to platinum-based chemotherapy. During clinical trials, the drug combination increased progression-free survival from an average of 17 months to 37 months.
“A patient really has to make a decision upfront, or near the beginning of their treatment, that they want bevacizumab maintenance treatment because they’ll have it with their primary chemotherapy,” Dr. Nick explains.
The drug is administered intravenously and can be given in combination with other chemotherapy drugs. Avastin affects the growth of blood vessels, starving tumors of the blood they need as nourishment.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines recommend PARP inhibitors be offered to women, with or without genetic mutations, who are newly diagnosed with stage III or IV ovarian cancer and have improved with chemotherapy.
Surgery offers another important decision point. “When patients have their surgery, we can test their tumor to decide if their tumor has a homologous recombination deficiency,” known as HRD. If it does, that also suggests they would benefit from PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy,” says Dr. Nick.
Elahere (molecular name mirvetuximab) is an FDA-approved targeted therapy that provides much-needed hope for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. This drug treatment is for women who test positive for a molecular factor called folate receptor alpha (FRα). While many ovarian cancers test positive for the folate receptor, to be eligible for Elahere, you must have very high levels (>75%) of the folate receptor-alpha (FRα).
It is an antibody-drug conjugate. This kind of new anti-cancer drugs, known as “biological missiles,” is leading a new era of targeted cancer therapy.
Dr Lyons explains, “What that means is that the antibody part of the drug conjugates binds to the folate receptor on the tumor cells, and then that gets taken up into the tumor cell. And then the drug that is conjugated with is the part that kills the tumor cells by affecting the tumor cell’s ability to divide.”
Questions for Your Doctor
If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and need guidance to further educate yourself on the disease and treatment, consider these questions for your doctor.
- What type of ovarian cancer do I have?
- What stage is my cancer in?
- Do you recommend I get genetic testing for any gene mutations, such as the BRCA gene mutation?
- What initial treatment options do you recommend?
- What are the possible side effects of the recommended treatment, and how can they be coped with?
- Will insurance help cover my recommended treatment?
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