A friend of mine whose father is on hospice for cancer had a nice Thanksgiving. He was able to eat much more than he anticipated, and after dinner, he slept in his chair for three hours. His family sat around him the whole time, talking and catching up. Yesterday, I spoke about limited health resources…
Category Archives: Palliation
Who do you trust, Nomad?
I remember one of my professors telling me that a good teacher will present at the level of the listeners. He had just finished talking about how the earth was a sphere, and that it generated gravitational force, and so on. When the class was over, he told me that actually the earth wasn’t perfectly…
Heart Conditions and Hospice
Does heart disease have a place in hospice? Heart-related diseases are the most common cause of death, and one of the most common causes of disability in America. Hospice care, if done well, provides life-changing improvement in how these people feel. The most common heart condition is heart failure (chf). CHF means that the heart…
Family Caregiver Support
From the Hospice Foundation of America: The American Cancer Society is offering a series of telephone workshops for loved ones of those with cancer. The free workshops include tips and practical problem-solving techniques, as well as time for questions. The following telephone sessions are scheduled: Monday, May 3, 2-3:15 p.m., and Wednesday, May 12, 7-8:15…
Hospice in Nairobi
I am in Nairobi, Kenya this week working in prisons with Prison Fellowship Kenya (www.pfm.org). While here, I met a man who has some experience with Kenyan hospice, and a young lady who told me a story about a her friend. There is only one hospice in Nairobi, a town of 3.5 million people. Most…
What about all these medications?
Some of our patients come to us taking 5 or more medications. We try to take them off as many as we can. There are lots of good reasons for stopping medicines. Many patients, particularly those suffering from dementia, have a hard time swallowing pills. And studies show that over-medication is a common cause of…
Now that’s what I call relief
I believe there was a 1980′s Rolaids commercial about relief. How consumer-focused we communicate using the ideas we have seen in old television ads. Last week I saw real relief. One of our patients was suffering from constant and worsening air hunger (he has emphysema). Air hunger is one of the most devastating symptoms. It…
At a Fort Worth Hospice: MD meets MS
A local physician asked us to take one of her patients who is suffering from multiple sclerosis. What a discouraging disease this one can be. MS attacks younger people, usually women. It strips the nerves of their outer covering, making them useless. The patient experiences weakness, pain, and loss of bodily control. It varies in severity. …
Ministry masquerading as hospice
This past week I attended a minsitry briefing for Prison Fellowship Ministries. During a lunch, one gentleman, a lawyer by trade, said that he has a ministry in town that masquerades as a law firm. We admitted a young person dying from cancer tonight. This patient has a young child and is married. It is one of…
Morphine: useful and safe, or inappropriate?
I like the old parable about the man living in line of a coming flood. When the officials drive to his house and say, “Get in, and we will take you to safety,” he replies, “No, thanks. God will save me.” As the water rises, the officials send a boat. He again declines, saying, “God will save me.” The…
