When a woman receives a diagnosis of cancer, if she is married, her husband is thrust into the role of caregiver, a role that can be overwhelming. Our culture's expectations of men can complicate this new role even further.

Here is some advice for husbands whose wives have been diagnosed with cancer, from Rene Barrat-Gordon, LISW, a social worker at The Cleveland Clinic:

Never falsely reassure her there is nothing to worry about. Anyone with cancer worries.

Don't feel the need to fix everything.

Have at least one person you can talk with besides your partner. And consider the "safety" and friendliness of a support group.

It's OK to cry-even in front of your partner. It doesn't mean you're weak; it means you love her and you feel afraid, anxious or sad.

For more advice on this topic from Barrat-Gordon, please go here.

As you drive through the neighborhoods surrounding the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas, you will notice small purple crosses planted in front lawns. The crosses mark the homes of cancer victims. The people who live in these neighborhoods call where they live the toxic triangle. They believe they have been poisoned by the industrial solvent, trichloroethylene, or TCE, that was dumped at the base for decades and subsequently spread for miles through a shallow aquifer under the 22,000 nearby houses.

The local health authorities admit they have found evidence of increased rates of liver cancer and birth defects for the residents of these neighborhoods, but state it is impossible to say that TCE is the cause. The residents are absolutely certain TCE is the cause of the cancers that plague the people who live there. And this same fate is playing out all over the country, in other cities that are home to military bases, industrial plants, nuclear weapons laboratories and NASA centers.