Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Why palliative care and hospice is the ultimate gift

Deb Discenza
Conditions
January 19, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share

Dear Doctors:

I am writing no less than 45 days after my mother died from a GI bleed from ovarian cancer.  Not once did my mother’s team of doctors mention palliative care.  It was not until days and even hours before her death that hospice was discussed and implemented. Our family was blindsided by this.

While no one likes to talk about the topic of death, it is important to remember that this is a natural cycle of life.  Doctors are always on the cutting edge of medicine and talking about the possibility of death seems like failure.  In reality not talking about the services available to family is the ultimate failure.

Here are the top 5 reasons why:

1.  Pain.  Patients may get to a point where pain is not manageable with the regular visits to the office.  To know that there are potential solutions from a team that understands the full situation and can target medicine toward avoiding suffering is key.  It can make a huge difference in quality of life and the person’s overall attitude toward the options available.  It puts the patient in the driver’s seat.

2.  Quality of life.  Running from doctor to doctor, balancing prescriptions at the pharmacy and not tending to one’s overall quality of life can be draining.  If more attention were paid by doctors to palliative care during serious illness the patient would feel a sense of relief that there is a friend on the sidelines ready to work with the entire team to manage symptoms and if need be start discussing hospice.

3.  Hospice gives the patient comfort at a time of great stress.  Hospice should not be a last-minute option.  It should be done with great thought and care with the patient’s needs in mind at all times.  To be able to stop all treatments and procedures and focus on the remaining days ahead without pain and suffering is often a relief.

4.  Families are grateful for palliative care and for hospice.  The patient’s families are often in the dark about these services.  Their stress on trying to do the best for their family member is truly overwhelming because they worry about what they can do to help.  Knowing that these services are there is half of the battle.  Even if they are not going to be needed in all likelihood, families deserve the right to know about them.

5.  Dignity.  While we are so busy “fixing” the patient we should also look to giving that person a sense of dignity.  No one wants to suffer in death.  Patients want the ability to have time with their family members and to peacefully convey last words and more.

Consider creating a simple sheet describing palliative care and hospice and handing it out to patients as they start treatment for a life-threatening illness.  Make it clear that you plan to do all that you can to help them but in that same vein you also want them to be completely informed of their rights to extra services should the illness become complicated.   More often than not, you will find patients and their families grateful for the “road map” for their full treatment, successful or not.  It is the ultimate gift.

Deb Discenza is co-author of The Preemie Parent’s Survival Guide to the NICU and the founder and former publisher of Preemie Magazine.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

Early lessons from Haiti in global health

January 18, 2012 Kevin 0
…
Next

The ambiguity of a hospital charge

January 19, 2012 Kevin 4
…

Tagged as: Hospital-Based Medicine, Oncology/Hematology, Palliative Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Early lessons from Haiti in global health
Next Post >
The ambiguity of a hospital charge

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Deb Discenza

  • Premature babies grow up. It’s time to pay attention.

    Deb Discenza
  • COVID-19 is rattling the nerves of preemie parents everywhere

    Deb Discenza
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Don’t land in the teaching hospital on a holiday weekend

    Deb Discenza

More in Conditions

  • Why transgender health care needs urgent reform and inclusive practices

    Angela Rodriguez, MD
  • Why the Sean Combs trial is a wake-up call for HIV prevention

    Catherine Diamond, MD
  • New surge in misleading ads about diabetes on social media poses a serious health risk

    Laura Syron
  • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

    Harry Oken, MD
  • The critical role of nurse practitioners in colorectal cancer screening

    Elisabeth Evans, FNP
  • Are we repeating the statin playbook with lipoprotein(a)?

    Larry Kaskel, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • How federal actions threaten vaccine policy and trust

      American College of Physicians | Conditions
    • Are we repeating the statin playbook with lipoprotein(a)?

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
    • AI isn’t hallucinating, it’s fabricating—and that’s a problem [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Closing the diversity gap in Parkinson’s research

      Vicky Chan | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
  • Recent Posts

    • AI isn’t hallucinating, it’s fabricating—and that’s a problem [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Brooklyn hepatitis C cluster reveals hidden dangers in outpatient clinics

      Don Weiss, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The truth in medicine: Why connection matters most

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Why trust and simplicity matter more than buzzwords in hospital AI

      Rafael Rolon Rivera, MD | Tech
    • Putting food allergy safety on the menu [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 12 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • How federal actions threaten vaccine policy and trust

      American College of Physicians | Conditions
    • Are we repeating the statin playbook with lipoprotein(a)?

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • mRNA post vaccination syndrome: Is it real?

      Harry Oken, MD | Conditions
    • AI isn’t hallucinating, it’s fabricating—and that’s a problem [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Closing the diversity gap in Parkinson’s research

      Vicky Chan | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • COVID-19 was real: a doctor’s frontline account

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Conditions
    • Why primary care doctors are drowning in debt despite saving lives

      John Wei, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Confessions of a lipidologist in recovery: the infection we’ve ignored for 40 years

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • A physician employment agreement term that often tricks physicians

      Dennis Hursh, Esq | Finance
    • Why taxing remittances harms families and global health care

      Dalia Saha, MD | Finance
  • Recent Posts

    • AI isn’t hallucinating, it’s fabricating—and that’s a problem [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Brooklyn hepatitis C cluster reveals hidden dangers in outpatient clinics

      Don Weiss, MD, MPH | Policy
    • The truth in medicine: Why connection matters most

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • New student loan caps could shut low-income students out of medicine

      Tom Phan, MD | Physician
    • Why trust and simplicity matter more than buzzwords in hospital AI

      Rafael Rolon Rivera, MD | Tech
    • Putting food allergy safety on the menu [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Why palliative care and hospice is the ultimate gift
12 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...