Palliative

We all have a special woman in our life- mom, grandma, great grandma, aunt, cousin, sister, wife, fiancée, girlfriend, daughter, step-daughter, friend, etc. We want them to be healthy, feel loved, and happy! February is Heart Disease Awareness Month and did you know that it accounts for approximately 1 in 5 deaths among women?

Let’s talk about this silent killer and ways you can help the women (and men) in your life reduce their chances of developing heart disease and some signs to look for.

The term “heart disease” refers to many types of heart conditions from heart attacks to coronary artery disease to heart failure.

Typically thought of as a disease that primarily affects men, almost as many women pass away from heart disease.

“Despite increases in awareness over the past decades, only about half (56%) of women recognize that heart disease is their number 1 killer.” -CDC

“Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 299,578 women in 2017—or about 1 in every 5 female deaths.” -CDC

Heart disease is also the leading cause of death for men in the United States, “killing 357,761 men in 2019—that’s about 1 in every 4 male deaths.” -CDC

Heart disease affects women of all races. It is the leading cause of death for African American and white women. It ties for top killer with cancer of American Indian and Alaska Native women. It’s the second killer of Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander women, right behind cancer.

Heart disease affects men of all races. It is the leading cause of death for men of most racial and ethnic groups in the US, including African Americans, whites, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Hispanics. It is second to cancer for Asian American and Pacific Islander men.

What are some symptoms of heart disease?
Angina, which is dull and heavy or sharp chest pain, discomfort
Pain in the neck, jaw, or throat
Pain in the upper abdomen or back
Nausea
Vomiting
Fatigue
Sometimes symptoms can remain silent until you have a medical emergency. Here are the most common heart-related emergencies and some common symptoms.
Heart Attack: Chest pain/discomfort, upper back/neck pain, indigestion, heartburn, nausea/vomiting, extreme fatigue, upper body pain/discomfort, dizziness, shortness of breath, pain on the left side of the body
Arrhythmia: “fluttering” feelings in your chest, heart palpitations
Heart Failure: shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling of feet/ankles/legs/abdomen/neck veins
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please call 9-1-1 or go to your emergency room right away!

What are some risk factors of heart disease?
Hypertension
High cholesterol
Smoking
Diabetes
Overweight/Obesity
Unhealthy Diet
Physical Inactivity
Excessive alcohol consumption

How can I reduce my risk of heart disease?
Know and monitor your blood pressure
Get tested for pre-diabetes and diabetes
Stop smoking
Get your cholesterol and triglycerides checked
Make healthier food choices, and consume less junk food and fast food
Exercise
Limit alcohol consumption
Manage stress levels

If you or a loved one is exhibiting any signs of heart disease, please contact 9-1-1 or visit your emergency room ASAP! Please consult your physician for tests and more ways to reduce your risk of heart disease. As always, if you or a loved one is in need of hospice or palliative care, please call St. Anthony’s at (270) 826-2326.

Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/women.htm?fbclid=IwAR37DjkfBy3o21q6-Re1EmdZuGsYlsZ6oakTZDCEq9bFE0vq8uVsih3aUjI
https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/men.htm

People generally enjoy talking to others about a variety of topics however, terminal illness and end of life care are not in those enjoyable topics.

But why don’t we normalize talking about these things?

Who should initiate conversations around end of life care and terminal illness?

The patient? Their family? Their physician?

Talking about a loved one’s wishes for end of life care should be a normal thing! Don’t you want to know the kind of care your loved one wants to receive? What if you were unable to speak for yourself? Would you want your loved ones to know the kind of care you desire to receive?

When discussing end of life care and/or terminal illnesses, a person should not depend on his/her physician to initiate these conversations. Talking about end of life decisions is really hard, but not talking about your end of life choices and expecting your physician and family to know is much more difficult.

So think about this, if 80% of people want to talk to their doctor about end of life care, if seriously ill, but only 7% of patients actually have these conversations with their physicians, what is happening?

This is where St. Anthony’s can help!

Start by thinking about these questions:
What is more important to you when faced with serious illness- quality of life or quantity of life?
Where do you want to be when you pass- in a hospital with cords, tubes, ventilation, etc. or at home with loved ones and pets in a familiar environment?
Do you have advance directives in place to help your loved ones if you are unable to make your own decisions?

If you choose quality of life and to be at home during your final months, weeks, or days, we can help! Whether you have advance directives in place or not, our hospice or palliative program can help you obtain optimal quality of life. If you do not have advance directives in place, we have social workers who can help you get those documents set up and understand what they are saying.

St. Anthony’s Hospice and Palliative Care programs are in place to help you! Not only do we help patients achieve optimal quality of life, but we also educate the patient and family on the disease progression and how to have those difficult conversations with family.

Don’t depend on someone else to initiate this conversation, start it yourself! If your or a loved one needs help with a serious illness and/or end of life care, please call us at (270) 826-2326.

By now you’ve seen us say how hospice care helps the whole person, including their psychosocial health. This means that we honor your end of life wishes!

Need help with advance directives? We can help!
Need help with funeral plans? We can help!
Need help improving quality of life with a serious illness? That’s our specialty!

Having the end of life conversation with loved ones is never easy. However, studies have shown that having these conversations ensure you receive the kind of care you want when at the end of life. A living will or 5 Wishes can help loved ones know your wishes. Knowing where a loved one stands on whether or not they desire intubation, CPR, and if they have a designated healthcare proxy can all take a huge stressor off family when the end of a patient’s life is near.

St. Anthony’s Hospice can also help you have those difficult conversations with loved ones. Our clinicians know how to approach these sensitive topics and can answer any questions you or family members may have. We want everyone to be educated on his/her disease process and to receive exceptional care when traditional curative treatments are no longer attainable.

If you or a loved one is in need of the exceptional hospice or palliative care we provide, please call us at (270) 826-2326 or visit our online referral form.

Photo and article source: https://www.vitas.com/hospice-and-palliative-care-basics/end-of-life-care-planning/having-a-conversation-about-the-end-of-life/infographic-hospice-honors-your-end-of-life-wishes

Hospice and palliative care are centered around maintaining a patient’s independence and dying with dignity. But what about aging?

When does a person need to begin thinking about their healthcare options?
When they are diagnosed with a terminal illness?
When they are actively dying?
Or when they are younger, either newly or not yet diagnosed, and can make choices for his/herself to ensure he/she gets what he/she wants out of life?
hint, if you said the last one, you are right!

Nobody wants to think about the possibility of getting sick or getting older, but everyone should begin planning for their future healthcare. Most people already contribute to a 401K, so why put off other future plans?

Once a patient is enrolled in palliative or hospice care, St. Anthony’s social workers can help patients with their advanced directives. We have an amazing team of social workers who can make legal documents easier to understand and help with funeral plans. Just another way St. Anthony’s Hospice helps to ease the psychosocial pain associated with illnesses!

Call us today to see how we can help you age gracefully, (270) 826-2326.

Photo source on picture.

When most people think of emergency rooms, they might think of a scene out of Grey’s Anatomy. The ambulance racing to the door with paramedics jumping out as soon as the ambulance stops to get the patient on the gurney out of the back. Doctors and nurses rushing to meet the ambulance with all the staff running into the hospital to save the patient that is standing on death’s doorstep.

While scenes like this can sometimes be true, ER staff has seen an increase in elderly patients suffering from serious illness and unmanaged symptoms. Hospice and palliative care are the perfect solutions to keeping patients’ symptoms managed and keeping them at home, where most wish to be.

End of Life and the Emergency Room

Emergency Room physicians and nurses are incredible. They never know what is going to walk or roll through the ER entrance from day to day. They face serious and often unplanned injuries and illness often and must be on their toes to diagnose the issue and work to fix it.

With that being said, the emergency room is not the best place for patients who are nearing the end of life. Hear us out! Determining a patient’s longevity is difficult, even for primary care physicians who know a patient’s full medical history. It’s natural for ER physicians to steer clear of discussing a patient’s prognosis when he/she only sees the patient for a small bit of the patient’s condition. Because of this, emergency physicians often stay away from discussing end of life care with patients.

On the other hand, some patients do not have strong relationships with their primary care physician so they put a lot of trust in their ER doctor to provide the best possible education and treatment options.

Hospice & Palliative Care Support for ER Physicians

St. Anthony’s Hospice works with ER staff to provide education and end of life options for patients with serious illness. Rather than patients being admitted into the hospital, it is possible to discharge a patient from the ER to home with hospice or palliative services.

With hospice referrals from the ER, St. Anthony’s works to get one of our Admission RNs out ASAP to assess the patient for hospice eligibility and if eligible, get the admission documents signed.

If the patient is eligible for hospice, we work to get durable medical equipment in the home quickly. The patient’s nurse (or on-call nurse if patient arrives home after hours) will make a visit or call, if the patient does not have any immediate needs, once the patient is back home.

Hospice care provides many benefits to the patient, all of which are covered 100% under Medicare and Medicaid. Some private insurances also cover hospice services. Visit our hospice information page to learn more about these benefits- https://stanthonyshospice.org/hospice-care/.

If the patient is not eligible for hospice care, we discuss palliative care with the patient. Palliative care is for patients who are still seeking aggressive or curative treatments, or those who have a chronic illness but do not meet criteria for hospice care just yet. Visit our palliative care information page to learn more about palliative care- https://stanthonyshospice.org/palliative/.

The overall goals of hospice and palliative care are quality of life and keeping the patient at home and out of the hospital/ER. To learn more about St. Anthony’s Hospice and Palliative Care or to refer yourself or a loved one, give us a call at (270) 826-2326 or visit our referral page at https://stanthonyshospice.org/referral/.

1st photo source: https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/blurred-emergency-in-hospital-picture-id543076252?s=612×612

2nd photo source- google images

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is a “chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow to the lungs” (Mayo Clinic). COPD damage is irreversible but the condition is treatable. With proper symptom management, people living with COPD can attain a good quality of life and reduce the risk of developing other associated conditions. Some of the common symptoms of COPD include shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness, a chronic cough that produces clear, white, yellow, or greenish mucus, frequent respiratory infections, lack of energy, unintentional weight loss, or swelling in legs, feet, and ankles (Mayo Clinic).

Its no surprise that patients with COPD who experience shortness of breath often experience anxiety. This creates an endless cycle of breathing difficulty, inability to breathe, panic, inability to breathe due to panic and anxiety. Understanding and managing anxiety is extra important for those living with COPD to help break this cycle.

Palliative & Hospice Care for COPD

COPD does have many management options- both pharmaceutical and not, it cannot be cured. It can be difficult for loved ones or caregivers to decide when to get additional care.

St. Anthony’s Palliative care is a great place to start when your loved one’s COPD is declining. We have a Nurse Practitioner, RN, and Social Worker who are an extra set of eyes and ears in the home to help manage symptoms and communicate with patient’s physician and/or specialist. Our Palliative Care team will visit in the patient’s home, cutting down on doctor and hospital visits.

When the patient’s condition declines and their physician expects they have 6 months left to live, the patient is eligible for the added benefits of hospice care. However, this does not mean the patient will only live for 6 months if on hospice care; only that the patient’s life expectancy is 6 months or less should the disease run its normal course.

Once admitted to hospice care, the patient is instantly surrounded by a team of experts who work together to care for the patient’s pain and symptoms and spiritual needs. Additionally, the patient and family receive much-needed emotional support.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about St. Anthony’s Hospice or Palliative Care or make a referral, please contact us at (270) 826-2326.

Sources- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/copd/symptoms-causes/syc-20353679?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=abstract&utm_content=Chronic-Obstructive-Pulmonary-Disease&utm_campaign=Knowledge-panel