2 Ways Palliative Care Can Help You During Your Fight With Cancer
Posted on: 13 February 2015
If you over 40 years old and are diagnosed with breast cancer, you have an 85% chance of beating it and surviving for at least another five years. Life is so uncertain, no matter if you are healthy or suffering from a major disease, and because of this, you may want to look into palliative care. This is a service that can help you find fulfillment and enjoyment in life during your battle with cancer, and it can greatly improve your quality of life, whether you have a week to live or 20 more years. Here are two things you should know about this.
It is a combination of services
Palliative care is often considered synonymous to hospice care, but it is actually quite different. Hospice care focuses on pain relief during a person's last days of life, but palliative care is designed to improve a person's life while he or she goes through a traumatic health problem.
Palliative care is a combination of multiple services, which are all designed to help you in different ways. This can include services from doctors, physical therapists, clergy, psychologists, and dieticians. All of these professionals work together and with you to make sure you have everything you need and that you are happy and as healthy and comfortable as possible.
It addresses all your needs
If you have breast cancer, you may have to go through various types of treatment throughout the next few months or even years. During this time, your doctors will help you in certain ways, but you will have a lot of other needs too, and that is how palliative care can help.
You will have people to assist you with the following things and more:
- Physical needs – Palliative care offers assistance with the physical things you need during your battle. This can include help with preparing food or knowing what foods to eat because eating right can help you feel better. Eating more fruits, whole grains, and fresh vegetables may be suggested, and a dietician may also recommend decreasing the amount of fat you eat. You may have someone there helping you with relaxation techniques, such as yoga. Completing relaxation activities can often help relieve stress and anxiety that you are experiencing.
- Emotional needs – Accepting that you have cancer can be difficult and can often leave a person depressed, nervous, and angry. Through this type of care, you will have people to talk to about this, and they will help you work through your feelings.
- Spiritual needs – Some people turn to spirituality when they discover they have a life-threatening illness, and this is often very comforting for people that are struggling with difficult health issues. You can have someone that will come in and pray with you, read the Bible to you, or offer words of comfort.
- Other needs – Palliative care covers all other types of needs you may also have. For example, if you need a wig because your hair is falling out, there will be someone there to get one for you.
The goal of palliative care is to help meet all the needs you have. For more information, contact Cornerstone Hospice and Palliative Care or a similar organization.
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