Palliative Care

Palliative care is often called symptom management. It is not hospice care, rather it is focused on improving quality of life for people with serious illness. Experts in palliative care can help with things such as pain management, relaxation techniques, psychological counseling, nutrition, and sleep issues.

Anyone with a life-threatening illness can benefit from palliative care. The best care scenario is to begin palliative care at the time of diagnosis, but you may begin at any time. By relieving symptoms, palliative care supports your overall treatment plan. It can help you cope, endure and marshal the energy needed to undergo treatments. Relief from symptoms also makes it easier on your caregiver because no one wants to see someone they love suffer.

I definitely think that early palliative care helps people. We’re not necessarily seeing people live longer, but their quality of life metrics are significantly improved. --Scott Paulson, MD

Read what one patient has to say about the benefits of palliative care in his blog.

Complementary, Integrative or Alternative Medicine

Many Americans use medical treatments that are not part of mainstream medicine. When you are using these types of care, it may be called complementary, integrative, or alternative medicine.
Complementary medicine is used together with mainstream medical care. An example is using acupuncture to help with side effects of cancer treatment.
When health care providers and facilities offer both types of care, it is called integrative medicine.
Alternative medicine is used instead of mainstream medical care.
--National Institutes of Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Medline Plus

Treatment modalities that are not typically part of conventional medical care in the United States may be used in conjunction with mainstream medicine. Don’t be surprised if the physicians treating your cancer suggest some complementary treatments for you to try in an effort to manage pain, reduce stress, or generally improve quality of life. Make your medical team aware of complementary approaches you are using.

Such offerings as yoga, chiropractic manipulation, and meditation are all popular complementary therapies. There is a wide range of such mind and body practices: acupuncture, massage, tai chi, qi gong, mindfulness-based stress reduction, relaxation techniques (such as breathing exercises and guided imagery), hypnotherapy, and dance, art or music therapy.

Dietary supplements are used by many Americans, but they can interact with drugs so check with your doctor first.

Traditional medicine, such as Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy, and naturopathy, can also complement Western medicine.

Read more by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: NCCIH.nih.gov

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center provides information about herbs and cancer treatment, including a searchable database: MSKCC.org

Survivorship or Wellness Programs

These programs are designed to help patients manage the transition from active treatment to recovery. They generally take an extensive assessment that details the patient’s diagnosis, treatment and monitoring protocols, any physical and emotional needs resulting from treatment,as well as the patient’s hopes and desires. The assessments are periodically updated.

What Is Hospice Care?

Some cancer patients and their families are confronted with one of the most difficult decisions of all: the decision to stop treatment. Hospice programs are invaluable in helping to shepherd families and their loved ones through the transition away from curative treatments. Hospice provides a medical team, equipment, home or inpatient treatments, hospice pharmacy, assistance with personal care, grief, end of life planning, spiritual guidance, and counseling. This support and care is for patients and also for their family and friends who are helping on this journey. The core hospice team typically includes a hospice physician, nurse, social worker, chaplain, care partner, and a volunteer. Some hospice programs provide music, pets, massage, aromatherapy, or other complementary therapies.

Hospice care is not about giving up; it is about shifting our focus from the exhaustive regimen of treatment to focus on having as many good and pain-free days as possible. You might be surprised to know that the word hospice comes from “hospitality.” The root idea is “a safe place of rest for the weary traveler.” The goal of hospice care is to pay attention to the quality of your days. Hospice will do all they can for you to be comfortable, alert, and able to enjoy life as much as possible. Most hospice care is provided in your home or that of a loved one, but may include care in a hospital, nursing home, or a hospice facility if available.
--R. Gene Lovelace, MDiv, Retired Hospice Chaplain

Benefits of Hospice Care

Gene Lovelace is a NET caregiver and spent 25 years working as a hospice chaplain. Here he shares his thoughts about choosing hospice care and sharing its benefits:

"So when is it time to ask a local hospice to get involved in your care? I have never had a patient or family say,“We really got hospice involved a little too early.“ What I’ve heard many families and patients tell me was that they sure wished they had invited hospice into their lives sooner.

“There are many reasons patients delay moving to hospice care, but the biggest reason is that they may not fully understand the benefits. Many times a patient or family member thinks of hospice as the last thing we can do in the final days of our life. Inviting hospice to get involved may invoke feelings of giving up or not fighting this illness that has so seriously changed their world. However, hospice care is not about giving up; it is about shifting our focus from exhaustive treatment regimens to catching our breath, taking stock of where we are, and trying to have as many good and pain-free days as possible.

“Most patients who begin hospice care are simply exhausted and so are their family members. Treatments, surgery, hospitalization, not getting adequate sleep or nutrition, and the stresses of illness take their toll on everyone. So what happens if you stop the aggressive treatments you have been taking to try to beat this illness? It varies based on your particular diagnosis and stage in the illness. Hospice care does not provide curative treatments. Yet, hospice patients tend to live better days and even more days. Since 1983 in the U.S we have had a Medicare Hospice Benefit which has given us almost 40 years of insurance reimbursement and data related to end of life care. An article several years ago in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management showed that hospice care produced 29 more days than non-hospice cancer care for five specific cancers. Hospice care heart patients actually lived 88 days longer than those without hospice involved. And if hospice does not work out for you or meet your current needs, you can return to the care plan you were on before hospice began."