palliative care
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Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to specialised medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a team of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who work together with the primary care physician and referred specialists (or, for patients who don’t have those, hospital or hospice staff) to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment.
Physicians sometimes use the term palliative care in a sense meaning palliative therapies without curative intent, when no cure can be expected (as often happens in late-stage cancers). For example, tumor debulking can continue to reduce pain from mass effect even when it is no longer curative. A clearer usage is palliative, noncurative therapy when that is what is meant, because palliative care can be used along with curative or aggressive therapies.
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intro’d to the term in BJ Miller‘s ted.. on dying (2019 book – guide to the end)
our role as caregivers… people who care.. is to relieve suffering.. not to add to it
he references necessary and unnecessary suffering.. like we did with wanted and unwanted stress… to systemic change.
6 min – palliative includes end of live care but not limited to it.. it’s about comfort and living well… you don’t have to die anytime soon to benefit from palliative care
loss is one thing – regret quite another..
regret, our output – #1 regret of dying (self-talk as data)
7 min – on having the support to make decisions that are best for your life over time
most of this is on shift in perspective.. on how you can see – when you can’t change what you can see..
zen hospice project
9 min – well intended in the name of sterility… but hospitals tend to assault our senses… and the most we might hope for w/in those walls is numbness…anesthetic.. literally opposite of aesthetic..
i revere hospitals.. but we ask too much of our hospitals.. they’re places for acute trauma and treatable illnesses.. they’re no place to live/die
whoa. so much packed in here… so much resonating with the fractal of school..
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interesting.. the web defn above says: relieving pain w/o dealing w/underlying cause…
when perhaps – at least the way BJ described it – and from our research/experimentation – it is the underlying cause. and we’re just not going deep enough.
perhaps (again via BJ) the idea that the problem with healthcare system is that: healthcare was designed with diseases.. not people at its center ..is the underlying problem.
and if instead we look at people.. perhaps there are 2 needs we focus on .. any age.. any illness (perhaps 99% of us now have some form of not-right ness or illness.. which is crazy/fitting .. with the supposed stats that 90% of people that go to the dr don’t have a medical problem)
perhaps the infrastructure BJ references.. needed to take on this seismic change.. is that deep. that simple. that open/all-inclusive.
re\tire\ment ness
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An interview with Ann Neumann, journalist of death
@nathanairplane @otherspoon https://t.co/Cf2PREb6jX https://t.co/5WwxEw3LQQOriginal Tweet: https://twitter.com/americamag/status/699738305584353284
slow the hell down – @otherspoon
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@CBCToronto
Dr. Naheed Dosani is a palliative care doctor but his patients are not in hospitals — they’re in homeless shelters bit.ly/2jX2yOI
@NaheedD
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Kathy Hull.. pediatric palliative care
(http://www.ted.com/talks/kathy_hull_stories_from_a_home_for_terminally_ill_children)
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via Dante fb share.. palliative care ness – i know you love me now let me die
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-know-you-love-me-now-let-die-louis-m-profeta-md/
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from nearing the end article by marco buscaglia:
like humans, pets can’t live forever, but unlike humans, they can’t tell you when they no longer wish for medical care that may prolong a life well lived.. esp if med care also means prolonged pain. instead, they rely on you, the responsible pet owner, to see to it that they’re able to enjoy a comfortable existence.. sometimes that means you’ll have to make difficult decisions knowing that certain actions may bring your pet peace, but they’ll ultimately bring you sadness..
people too can’t tell you..
our pets may act nobly when they’re feeling pain but their ability to quietly deal w physical discomfort doesn’t mean it’s ok.. this is esp true when our in home pets are no longer able to act on some of their basic needs w/o assistance.. you may think you’re doing your dog a favor by carrying him up /down the stairs or helping your cat out by hand feeding her every day but if they physical nature has worsened to the point where they’re not longer able to do the simplest of functions, are you actually helping, or are you taking way their independence and.t o an extent, their dignity? despite your intentions, you no longer maybe giving your beloved pets the life that they necessarily desire
an obvious but often unspoken reason people allow their pets to live out their days in discomfort may be that the owner isn’t ready to give up that part of his life.. many pet owners depend on their pets for support/comfort which makes it easier for them to justify their decision to keep their pets alive, even when that pet may be living in pain.. it’s a difficult decision to give up what may be the most consistent part of your life but filling a personal void by avoiding an inevitable event shouldn’t be used to justify your pet’s unnecessary pain..
there’s no shame in being unable to afford high cost treatment plans that may only numb an animal’s discomfort or briefly prolong their eventual demise..
even more.. numbing/prolonging could be the opposite of what you think.. harming vs loving.. obsessing vs letting go.. et al..
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be you. 