While someone can enter hospice care for any number of medical reasons, cancer continues to be the one of the most common.
Each year, approximately 1.5 million Americans receive hospice care to improve their quality of life during their end of life journey.
If you or a loved one is battling cancer and all medical interventions have ceased effectiveness, transitioning to hospice care can help shoulder the burden of not knowing what to do next.
While hospice caregivers cannot treat cancer, they can help alleviate distressing symptoms and discomfort so that you or your loved one can face the end of life journey with greater comfort and peace. It also ensures that family members are supported through the stages to come.
Our experienced team of in-home caregivers at Blue Water Hospice provides extensive end-of-life services to cancer patients and their family members.
When should hospice care start for cancer patients?
Deciding when to enter into hospice care is never an easy option, and it is one that should be made with several parties involved including the patient, their medical team and close family members.
Some key questions that may help guide whether or not they are ready to seek hospice care for cancer are:
- Has the malignancy progressed and the patient is rapidly weakening?
- Has medical treatment become no longer effective?
- Does their oncology doctor indicate that they may have six months or less to live?
- Has the burden of cancer treatment begun to outweigh the potential benefits on both the patient and their family?
What specific services does hospice care entail?
For those who seek hospice services for cancer, the goal is to ease both the physical pain of ongoing cancer symptoms (such as chronic aching/discomfort and nausea) and ease their minds of end-of-life planning and preparations which can be stressful.
At Blue Water Hospice, we aim to help manage the whole experience and address any of the physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual challenges that may come up.
We can help facilitate everything from scheduling meetings with spiritual advisers and friends to planning diversion activities, such as a favorite hobby, that they may enjoy doing and making memories one last time.
Some common everyday tasks that Blue Water Hospice can provide to benefit the patient include:
- Medical care
- Pain management
- Emotional support
- Spiritual support
What does hospice care look like for family members?
Another goal of Blue Water Hospice is to ensure that close family members are looked after and supported during their loved one’s final days, and even long afterwards.
We can partner with Blue Water Homecare to provide non-medical services to make your life easier, so that you can spend quality time with your loved one, such as:
- Meal planning and preparation
- Light housekeeping and laundry
- Assistance with errands or prescription pick-ups
- Meeting coordination with spiritual advisers, social workers, or other members of your family’s hospice care team
After your loved one has passed, we offer extensive bereavement support services to help guide you on the grieving process and life after experiencing a loss.
We are here to help hold your hand through this challenging time, and we strive to make sure it is as compassionate and comfortable as possible for everyone involved.
Contact Blue Water Hospice Today
For more information, please call 512-872-2955 or contact us online for a free in-home assessment or a consultation. In addition to Blue Water’s hospice services, we also provide homecare for seniors and dedicated Dementia and Parkisnon’s Disease programs.