More Patient Stories: Palliative Care Helps with Stress, Support, and More
As we shared in a recent blog post, hearing personal stories is tremendously helpful when learning about the positive impacts of palliative care—especially when it has helped so many people improve their quality of life. In this blog post, we’re sharing two more stories from patients who are living well with serious illness, due to the support received by the palliative care team. Read and watch their stories below!
Larry’s Story: Palliative Care Helped with Stress of His Serious Illness
Larry loves to spend time outside, be with family and friends, travel, and read. Throughout his life, catching a bad cold often caused asthma symptoms. During one episode, Larry visited urgent care for asthma treatment. Before he left that appointment, an x-ray revealed a spot on his upper right lung and was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.
Living with cancer has brought unexpected stress, and palliative care has helped him manage this, while also guiding him through treatment options and discussing his goals of care. It has also helped Larry improve his quality of life.
“I’m just really grateful for my palliative care team. I feel really lucky and fortunate to have such great doctors and nurses that support me, and I’m not afraid anymore.”
Watch Larry’s Story:
Mike’s Story: Palliative Care Helps Him with Pain Management and Cohesive Support
Mike is a dad, electrical engineer, and husband. In his spare time, he likes to fish, cook, and have family and friends for meals.
Mike started to experience pain in his abdomen, and saw that his eyes and skin were turning yellow. After a set of scans, his doctors confirmed a tumor on his pancreas. Palliative care stepped in after Mike’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, to help with whatever he needed, including pain management, which included helping him safely wean him off unnecessary medications that he no longer wanted to take. Mike appreciated how the team worked together, which helped him improve his quality of life, and offered compassionate and effective care.
“I found the best thing about the palliative care team is that it is a cohesive unit I could depend on.”
Watch Mike’s Story:
About Palliative Care
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness. This type of care is focused on relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a specially trained team of doctors, nurses, and other specialists who work together with your other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided alongside curative treatments.
To learn more about palliative care and how it can help, visit GetPalliativeCare.org. You’ll find helpful resources, including a quick quiz to see if palliative care might be right for you or your loved one.
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