Articles & Stories

Listen and watch on-demand here.

Featured Presenter:

Beth Popp, MD

Webinar Description:

A diagnosis of breast cancer is scary. You’re faced with treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. There can be difficult side effects and symptoms caused by the disease and its treatment, such as pain, nausea, fatigue and anxiety.  Many can linger and persist afterwards as well.  Things can feel overwhelming.

Palliative care can help.  When palliative care teams work in partnership with cancer specialists, people living with breast cancer experience reduced symptoms, better communication and other benefits.  Once symptoms are controlled, patients can get back to daily activities. They also have someone to help them plan for the future.

Dr. Beth Popp is a senior faculty member in the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She has dedicated her career to improving care and quality of life for cancer patients. Dr. Popp is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine. She completed her residency training in Internal Medicine and her Medical Oncology fellowship training at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis.

By Andrew Esch, MD

If you have colorectal cancer, you know that your pain, symptoms, and the side effects of treatments can take a toll on your quality of life.  Therefore, they can stop you from doing the things that are important to you. They can also lead to unwanted hospital stays. But palliative care can help. … Read More

On good days, you can find Paul in his house intently focused on one of his woodworking projects. It’s hard work, but it’s a labor of love.

“I’m not the type to sit still. I’m at my happiest when I’m working with my hands and creating something new,” says Paul.

The fact that Paul is able to get up and do woodwork is something even he couldn’t have imagined five years ago when he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma—a rare cancerous tumor that grows in the bones or in the tissue around the bones. A tumor in his spine caused immense back pain, made worse by symptoms from chemotherapy, radiation, and several spinal surgeries. He couldn’t do even the smallest of tasks.

That’s when he was referred to palliative care. … Read More

By Andrew Esch, MD

When you are living with ovarian cancer, the symptoms and side effects can take a toll. Bloating, pain, nausea and fatigue can stop you from doing the things you enjoy, and can prevent you from keeping up with your treatments. Ovarian cancer can also have a big effect on your emotional health, body image and sexual functioning – all of which can create stress for you and your family. … Read More

Would you like to know about a medical team that can help you manage the symptoms and stress of living with a serious illness?  If you have cancer, COPD, heart or kidney disease, Parkinson’s, or any other serious illness, you might benefit from palliative care. If you don’t know much about it, watch and listen to the webinars, podcasts and videos on GetPalliativeCare.org.  You will learn from other patients, caregivers and palliative care experts as they explain how a referral to a palliative care team can help provide improve your quality of life. … Read More

The number of medical and patient support organizations actively recommending palliative care continues to grow for people living with serious illnesses, and for good reason: palliative care focuses on relieving the symptoms and stress of the illness, and the goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.  … Read More

For Marion, breast cancer and its treatment brought pain and depression that kept her from the things she loved doing. She was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer in 2014. Eventually, Marion’s oncologist referred her to palliative care.

Palliative care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care for people living with serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing 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 a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.

“Since I began seeing palliative care, I am much more aware of living purposefully, of spending my time doing things that mean something,” says Marion.  … Read More

Are you or a loved one living with an illness like COPD, cancer, Parkinson’s, heart, or kidney disease? If you are, you might greatly benefit from palliative care – and you should demand it.

Palliative Care (pronounced pal-lee-uh-tiv) is specialized medical care that is focused on relieving the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life. 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 an illness, and it can be provided along with curative treatment. … Read More

Listen and watch on-demand here.

Recorded: June 29, 2022

Featured Presenter:
Andy Esch, MD, MBA

Webinar Description:

If you or a loved one are living with a serious illness like cancer, COPD, heart disease or others, you likely know the feelings of anxiety and depression. You may assume that it’s normal to feel sad or worried when you’re sick. While it is normal to have days when you feel blue, something is wrong if these symptoms don’t go away, if you’re having trouble eating or sleeping, or if you’re not enjoying things the way you normally do. … Read More

When Kelly—a central New Jersey woman in her early 30s—is asked what brings her joy, she doesn’t have to think very hard.

“It’s definitely being with my young son. He’s my world. His smile lights up my life,” says Kelly.

Since she was 12 years old, Kelly has faced an array of medical issues. Over the years, she has dealt with lupus, mitochondrial disease, a clot in her lung and main vein to the heart, and autonomic neuropathy. These issues have caused additional heart and bladder problems, as well as gastropareses, which affects the normal movement of muscles in the stomach. Kelly had done her best to deal with the chronic pain for nearly half her life, but in 2016, the issues became unbearable, and even the smallest task became an issue. … Read More