Liam Neeson’s latest movie, “Ordinary Love,” out this month, deals with a topic close to his heart: How families deal with cancer.
"I've had four relatives who have died of cancer, three of them of breast cancer over the last few years," Neeson told Deadline in an earlier interview about the project.
Read MoreRelationships and Cancer
No one can predict, of course, how close relationships will go when cancer strikes. SurvivorNet has spoken with survivors who say their love for their partner has gotten stronger, others have broken up. What’s true for all is that cancer doesn’t just affect the person who has it — it also affects those around them.
When ABC newswoman Amy Robach was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013, and she told SurvivorNet that while the diagnosis was at first really hard on her relationship with her husband, Andrew Shue, it ultimately made the relationship stronger.
"I had an idea of what he should be doing, what he should be saying, what he should be feeling, and if he didn't do any of those things the way I wanted him to, or what I thought I needed, I was extra upset and extra angry,” she said.
ABC newswoman Amy Robach on how cancer strengthened her relationship
Robach said it took some time for her to realize that Shue, 52, who co-starred as Billy Campbell on "Melrose Place," was dealing with the same emotional roller coaster that she was. "We were already struggling when I got the cancer diagnosis," she said. "So this kind of threw everything into a further tailspin, until it didn't … until we realized that we were only stronger together and that we had to give each other a break."
After they learned to deal with the uncertainty that the diagnosis brought, Robach said she and her husband actually got a lot better at communicating with one another.
Going Through a Break-Up During Cancer
Going through a breakup when you’re healthy is hard enough — going through one while you’re already battling cancer is an incredibly difficult challenge. But ovarian cancer survivor Tara Lessard told SurvivorNet the experience taught her a great deal about compassion.
Lessard and her partner of five years broke up while Lessard was going through treatment for advanced ovarian cancer. She said that during the cancer journey, her ex began to see her as a patient instead of a partner — and that made the relationship too difficult to continue. “Any person who’s experienced a breakup, having later stage cancer, I understand it,” Lessard said. “It’s a challenge.”
Ovarian cancer survivor Tara Lessard on going through a breakup during cancer
After the breakup, Lessard’s mom became her caregiver. “I see now, my mom has been my caretaker, and I see love through her — and what that looks like when it’s the love of a parent vs. the love or a partner,” Lessard said. “I can just say that it’s a difficult place to be … it’s often a thankless job. It’s a 24/7 job. I’m an advocate now, as a cancer patient, for caregivers.”
Lessard said that the whole experience, the breakup and watching her mom take over the caregiver role, showed her just how much pressure is put onto people who act as caregivers. Now, she advocates for people like her mother to make sure they’re receiving the support they need in the challenging, but incredibly critical role.
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