No one knows how long they have… we are all born and we will all die. When an individual is diagnosed with a terminal health condition, discussions quickly arise about what they want, what they don’t want, how they want their medical condition approached and how they want to spend their remaining time. To palliate means to make comfortable by treating a person’s symptoms from an illness. Palliative care has a focus on helping a person be comfortable by addressing issues causing physical or emotional pain, or suffering. The goals of palliative care are to improve the quality of a seriously ill person’s life and to support that person and their family during and after treatment.
Palliative care is not hospice! Hospice focuses on relieving symptoms and supporting patients with a life expectancy of months not years, and their families. However, palliative care may be given at any time during a patient’s illness, from diagnosis on.
I am here to champion you and your family’s personal goals, desires and health while we are here in this great playground called Life. You may not have had a choice to get a life threatening illness however suffering is optional.