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{"id":1994,"date":"2019-11-22T13:30:36","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T13:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/?p=1994"},"modified":"2019-11-22T13:30:46","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T13:30:46","slug":"palliative-care-and-its-importance-in-oncology-and-chronic-patients-senator-medical-ab-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/palliative-care-and-its-importance-in-oncology-and-chronic-patients-senator-medical-ab-sweden\/","title":{"rendered":"Palliative care importance in patients facing with cancer and chronic illnesses"},"content":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s medical care focused on improving the quality of life for people with serious illnesses. If you\u2019re facing heart failure, cancer, dementia, ALS, or another such disease, we can help you live as well as possible for as long as possible. Palliative care is not about dying but, rather, about living.<\/p>\n
That you have to choose between quality or quantity of life. Palliative care helps you have both. Much of what we do is talk with people about what values and goals they hold most dear. People care about many things in addition to a cure. Patients hope to be at a child\u2019s wedding, for example, or visit their hometown one more time. We help them achieve the things that matter most to them \u2013 even while they\u2019re receiving chemo, surgery, or other treatments. It\u2019s not either\/or.<\/p>\n
A team of expert nurses, social workers, chaplains, and doctors work together to address all the issues that really matter to patients. I tell my patients, \u201cYou have an oncologist to take care of your cancer. Our focus is on you as a whole person: to relieve your symptoms; to help you make good decisions; to support you and your family emotionally, psychologically, practically, and spiritually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, we started one of the first divisions of palliative medicine in the country. We\u2019ve trained teams from over 250 institutions. We\u2019re leading a national network of 124 palliative care teams nationwide. We now have data on over 200,000 patient encounters that will help us research and improve care. We\u2019ve come a long way, yet there\u2019s still much for us to learn.<\/p>\n
Doctors and patients are increasingly recognizing the benefits of palliative care. People want care that helps them live as well as possible for as long as possible. Once people learn what palliative care is, they want it. So we\u2019re training experts to meet this growing demand. We have one of the largest fellowship programs in the state, and we also train nursing students, medical students, and residents. We want all clinicians to know the basics of palliative care: how to manage pain, shortness of breath, and nausea and how to talk to patients about the things that matter most to them.<\/p>\n
People appreciate honesty. It takes courage to face reality, but doing so can help people make the most of their time. Being diagnosed with a serious illness is devastating and can throw your life into chaos. But if we face the reality of the situation together, we can help people make good decisions about their care and make the most of their time. One of my patients had advanced lung disease and severe pneumonia but wanted to see her daughter get married \u2013 in 10 months in the Napa Valley. We didn\u2019t give her false hope. We said, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to do it now.\u201d Three days later, her daughter came to the ICU in a beautiful wedding gown, her fianc\u00e9 in a tuxedo. They pinned a corsage on the mom\u2019s hospital gown. Our chaplain officiated. There wasn\u2019t a dry eye. It was a beautiful wedding that she might otherwise have missed.<\/p>\n
We often find that patients feel great relief after having an honest, caring conversation about death and dying rather than skirting the issue. Which is not to say it isn\u2019t sad. The patient is sad. The clinician is sad about having to give hard news. But people with serious illnesses have typically already thought about the possibility of dying \u2013 that\u2019s what makes serious illness so scary. When it\u2019s done with kindness and compassion, it\u2019s often a relief. I tell patients it\u2019s like being dealt a hand of cards. We can wish we had a better hand, but we have to do our best with the cards we have.<\/p>\n
The satisfaction of helping people, of making a difference. There are also moments of real joy, even amid the sadness. One of my patients just died, and
his wife shared a letter our social worker helped him craft to his family. The last
line is \u201cMy one regret is that I don\u2019t know how Game of Thrones ended.\u201d It is so sweet and sad. I now think of him every time I watch an episode.<\/p>\n