Support for family and friends

If a member of your family or a friend has been diagnosed with sarcoma, you may not know what to do.  

Whether it’s your friend, family, colleague, or neighbour, this page has information about how you can help them and help yourself.  

If you’re a carer, it might help you to read our information about looking after someone with sarcoma, and about looking after yourself as a carer.  

How can I help them?  

If you know someone with sarcoma, it can be hard to know how to make yourself useful to them. You could let them know you can help with everyday tasks, for example:  

• offering to look after any pets  
• offering to go food shopping for them  
• help with travel to and from appointments. 

Understanding sarcoma  

If your friend or family member has sarcoma, it might help you to know more about it. Understanding their specific type of sarcoma can help you to understand what is happening. It might also be useful to understand the side effects they might have with their medicines and treatments.  

We have more information about the different types of sarcoma, as well as the different treatment types. 

Looking after your mental health 

If your family member or friend has sarcoma, you might find this impacts your own mental health.  

Help is available. You can refer yourself to NHS talking therapies for help with anxiety and depression. You can also find more advice for your mental wellbeing on the NHS Every Mind Matters website.  

If you’re a teenager  

If you’re young and you find out your friend has sarcoma, it can be really hard to understand. It might also feel unfair.  

The Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Lives vs Cancer have more information to help you if your friend has cancer.  

You can also talk to our Support Line for any advice.