Hospice care is a specialized form of healthcare that is critical during the final months of life. We will all face hard to make choices at some point. Make those choices today rather than while in the midst of a difficult time. Our advance care planning specialists are here to support you, so that the care you deserve is available as soon as it is needed. Take our patient Mark’s story as an example.
Mark is a 72 year old man with end stage Colon Cancer. He lives at home with his wife. He has two grown children who live out of state. Mark’s cancer was diagnosed nine months ago. He had surgery to remove a portion of his colon and underwent a series of chemotherapy treatments. He was never the same after the surgery.
After several months in a skilled nursing facility, he was able to return home with his wife but could no longer keep up his weekly golf games with his friends, travel like he used to, or take his wife dancing. He was receiving home health care to get his strength back. About two months ago, Mark began to experience severe abdominal pain and unintended weight loss. His doctor gave him the news that the cancer had returned. He didn’t want to go through another surgery and didn’t feel like he had the strength to go through skilled nursing rehabilitation again.
Mark’s physician discussed his prognosis and recommended that he talk to a representative from our hospice. Mark and his wife were surprised to learn the range of services that hospice offered and that it would be covered at 100% through his Medicare benefit. His children were initially hesitant about their father going onto hospice, but the representative from our hospice scheduled a conference call and was able to answer all of their questions and helped them get comfortable with the concept of hospice.
Mark was evaluated and admitted to our hospice. Our team was then able to:
- Get him on a medication regimen that helped him manage his pain and other symptoms
- Provide short term continuous care when he developed a pain crisis which enabled him to remain in the comfort of his home.
- Provide a hospital bed so that he and his wife could sleep comfortably.
- Develop a care plan that anticipated the course of Mark’s illness and helped him stay at home.
- Support him and his wife with spiritual and emotional counseling.
- Stay in regular contact with his children so that they were informed and able to deal well with their father’s illness.
- Assist Mark and his wife with end-of-life care planning so that she would be able to continue to function well after his death.
As a Medicare beneficiary, this care was provided to Mark and his family at no cost. He was able to avoid being hospitalized again. Because Mark was getting such great care, his wife and children were less anxious and more able to spend quality time with Mark and each other.
If you know someone like Mark who could use our help, please contact us today.
