Stories

Welcoming your first child into the world is truly a life-changing moment for anyone. For Dannell and Peter Shu, it was beyond anything they ever imagined.

Their newborn son Levi was born with brain damage.

“When Levi was born, he was born without a heartbeat or a breath. He didn’t move and he didn’t cry,” recalled Dannell Shu, Levi’s mother. “And it was in that moment that we changed course.”

Dannell and Peter knew that they and their newborn son needed immediate and lasting support. They began pediatric palliative care soon after Levi’s birth. … Read More

No matter who you are, receiving a diagnosis of a serious illness can be life-altering and difficult emotionally. When Christine Buehlmann was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she saw her life change radically.

“I am usually a very positive person and it was so overwhelming that I was going into a very deep depression,” she said. “It dramatically changed my life and I was completely devastated.”

Prior to her diagnosis, Christine valued her job as a physical therapist who worked with cancer patients. Yet as the symptoms of both her ovarian cancer and the chemotherapy to treat it worsened, she found that she could no longer trust her body. “I was not able to work and I could not even cross the street. I would look at other people and they were so fast that sometimes the light would change red and I was not even finished crossing yet.”

According to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, there were 21,980 estimated cases of ovarian cancer in 2014. For patients with ovarian cancer and their families, the diagnosis itself can be challenging enough, let alone dealing with the stress and symptoms of the disease and treatment.

But Christine knew something that many patients don’t: there is a way to live better with serious illness. She asked for palliative care.

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with 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. … Read More

David, a devoted family man, is a colorectal cancer survivor who suffered from complications as a result of his treatment. After repeated visits to the emergency room to deal with the pain, David asked for palliative care. His primary goal was to remain at home to enjoy quality time with his family. David’s palliative care team helps manage his pain but also provides psycho-social support for him and his family. Thanks to his palliative care treatment, David is now able to enjoy life at home as he continues his recovery.  For more palliative care videos, visit the Get Palliative Care YouTube Channel.

This is Debbie’s palliative care story. Debbie is a hair dresser, a business owner and a proud grandmother diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. Debbie was in a great amount of pain while receiving treatment for her illness. Then she found palliative care and as a result is back to work doing what she loves. Debbie’s palliative care team treats the pain and stress caused by her illness. For more information on how palliative care can help treat the symptoms of Multiple Myeloma, click here.

Waving from the saddle of a camel. Jet skiing to the Statue of Liberty. Climbing the Great Wall of China.

This is what you’ll find Amy Berman—who was diagnosed with stage IV inflammatory breast cancer in October, 2010—doing these days. Since choosing palliative care and remaining in control of her own medical decisions, Amy says she is enjoying a “full life” of work, travel and quality time with loved ones.

“I did something so simple yet so rarely done. I chose the road less taken, and it led to better health, better care, and significantly lower cost,” said Amy in a recent Health Affairs blog post. Amy is a Senior Program Officer at the John J. Hartford Foundation, a proud mother and a staunch advocate of how palliative care can benefit anyone facing serious illness as well as their families. This is Amy’s story, in her own images, as a reminder of how palliative care empowers patients and families to match their goals with the care they receive.