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MsC1210

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    A Physician Shares his Thoughts on Palliative Care

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    A Physician Shares his Thoughts on Palliative Care

    Sunday December 7, 2008

    Bob Wachter, a physician and blogger, published a blog on his site Wachters World with an interesting title, "My Patients are Dying...and I've Never Been Prouder". In this post, he shares why he is so proud of the palliative care staff at UCSF, and of himself, for helping patients and their families through end-of-life decision making and through death. Some highlights from his post:

    The movement promoting compassionate care for dying patients was largely community-based and tended to focus on patients dying slow and painful deaths – mostly those with terminal cancer. Meanwhile, in the hospital we were exploring the senselessness of “doing everything” for (or, more to the point, to) patients with poor prognoses, troubled by seeing lives end so violently, stripped of all dignity. But we spent virtually no time thinking about how to bring hospice-like sensibilities and resources into the hospital. Frankly, as I think back, many of us saw that work as being a bit too touchy-feely for our tastes. We were doctors, after all, not social workers...

    But the larger tragedy of our failure to embrace palliative care as a legitimate discipline was that by continuing to view death as a failure, we failed to gain the expertise and garner the resources to promote affirmative conversations with patients about alternatives to aggressive care. Sure, we might close the curtains, bump the morphine, and allow the patient whose care was near hopeless to pass peacefully, but we virtually never spoke openly with patients or families about how a focus on comfort might be a better way to complete one’s life...

    I couldn’t be prouder of the way we managed the patients’ care, our communication with the patients and their families, and the tears that we’ve all shed along the way. At one point or another in virtually every case, family members hugged me, members of my team, or members of the PCS and thanked us for our wonderful care – this at the most horrible time in their lives. It is uniquely sobering and gratifying.

    Well said Dr. Wachter.

    Please read Dr. Wachter's article in it's entirety. He does a wonderful job of illustrating the necessity of hospital-based palliative care programs.

    http://www.the-hospitalist.org/blogs/wa ... ouder.aspx

    Whirlwind

    in GRIEF

    Posted

    ((((Dana))))

    I am so sorry things have gotten this bad so quickly. Please keep talking to your Mom, she can hear you and I am sure it is a comfort to her to know you are there.

    I wish I had more words of wisdom for you or some words of comfort to make this easier.

    Keep leaning on us and know that we are here and we care and we get it..

    Much love and many hiugs and prayers

    Christine

    Here we go again.

    in INTRODUCE YOURSELF!

    Posted

    Hello and welcome to "the family"

    I am so sorry you had need to be here but I am glad you have posted and joined us. I am sure you will find this site to be a big help and a wonderful source of information, support and HOPE.

    I agree 110% with writing things down. Get a note book or a small organizer and write EVERYTHING down. Your questions, the doctors answers, test dates, etc. Ask for and obtain copies of ALL tests and keep a detailed record of any and all medications and treatments. By keeping all of this in one place it will be so much easier to look back and provide information to anyone who may need it.

    Keep posting here. Lean on us and let us help you. There is always someone around here who can offer up some wonderful advice or even just be here to "listen" when you need to talk or vent.

    My thoughts and prayers are with you and you husband,

    Christine

    Question about acheness

    in NSCLC GROUP

    Posted

    Hi Sarah

    I don't think it would be a bad idea to have the doctor look at the shoulder. Better to err on the side of caution and find out what the root of the pain is.

    Just my thoughts, and I hope you are feeling better soon!

    Hugs

    Christine

    Remembering Darryl

    in GRIEF

    Posted

    I know that not everyone here remembers Darryl Barnes, but I know that those who do, will relate to this post.

    Darryl was taken from this earth 2 years ago, December 7th. It does not seem possible that it’s been 2 years.

    I was blessed and fortunate to get to know Darryl in the time that he was a member here on LCSC and I am so thankful for that. Darryl overcame many odds in life before being diagnosed with lung cancer. In a lot of ways the cancer was a walk in the park compared to some of the things he had already battled and beaten.

    I’ve never met ANYONE who truly appreciated life’s smallest gifts the way Darryl did. He would call me after every doctor’s appointment or test or chemo or radiation and no matter how bad the news might have been he always took something positive from it. Even in his last days he was upbeat and positive as he made the decision to stop treatment and let things take whatever course they would as the doctors did all that they could to keep his pain in control. His uncle phoned me and gave me the details of his final days and I am so grateful to know that it was as pain free as possible.

    The one phone call from Darrell that I will never forget was the night he called me to say that the scan and test results were all back and that he had realized his latest goal, he was NED. I remember the joy in his voice and the happiness. Although that period of NED did not last long, he was just so happy to have heard those words. It was one of the brightest moments in his fight. He never questioned it or lost any time worrying about IF it would last, he cherished every single moment of life from that moment on. Even when the cancer returned.

    I just wanted to take a moment to remember a wonderful and inspirational friend.; not only of mine but to many others here on the LCSC boards.

    Darryl F. Barnes.. August 3, 1962-December 7, 2006

    update

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Don,

    I've been thinking of you and wondering and hoping that you were comfortable. I am glad you have checked in here and let us know how you are.

    Very happy to hear about the lung function improvement but so sorry you are still in pain with the leg.

    Please know you continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.

    Hugs

    Christine

    Educating On Lung Cancer

    in LUNG CANCER IN THE NEWS

    Posted

    Educating on lung cancer

    Mom's goal is to stop students' tobacco use

    Did you know?

    ♦More people die of lung cancer each year than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined.

    ♦Nearly twice as many women die of lung cancer each year than die of breast cancer.

    ♦For 80 percent to 90 percent of smokers, the smoking habit began before they were 18.

    By Jennifer L. Boen

    of The News-Sentinel

    The year is nearly over, and for nearly 162,000 Americans, it is the year that lung cancer claimed their lives. No other cancer claimed as many lives.

    Anita DeSelm of Fort Wayne knows the pain of losing a loved one to lung cancer. She has dealt with the deaths of both her mother and daughter to the disease.

    Her mother's lung cancer was caused by smoking, and tobacco use is the cause of nearly 90 percent of lung cancer cases, according to the American Lung Association.

    But Jennifer DeSelm Robbins, Anita DeSelm's daughter, never smoked. Her parents did in early adulthood, but both quit. Yet lung cancer claimed the Homestead High School grad's life in 2005, when she was just 20. Doctors do not know the cause. While many questions remain in DeSelm's mind, it is the deaths of her mother and daughter that drive her passion for educating teens about lung health and the detrimental effects of tobacco.

    “I don't care how you get (lung cancer), you don't want to die from it,” she said.

    During Janet Richter's health classes at Northrop High School on Thursday, students heard DeSelm talk about the disease through a program designed by an Indiana nonprofit called Cancer Free Lungs.

    When DeSelm starts her talk, she says only that she has very personal reasons for being there.

    “Most students assume I have lung cancer,” she said.

    Her presentation includes statistics, graphic photos of cancer and a discussion of the tobacco industry's marketing strategies to young people. The marketing is effective because more than one in five Indiana high school students is a current smoker, according to the most recent Indiana Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “I think it's higher than that here at Northrop,” said sophomore Auston Ladd. “They think it's cool to smoke with their friends.”

    The 2007 survey also shows that 16 percent of high school students reported smoking a whole cigarette before they were 13 years old. Additionally, the number of students who smoked cigars or cigarillos increased almost 14 percent between 2005 and 2007.

    “Students say, ‘But your daughter didn't smoke and she got lung cancer,'” as if that gives smokers some sort of sense of security. “But I tell them I watched her die from lung cancer. It spread from her lungs to her brain and, in the end, it was in her bones.”

    DeSelm showed Richter's health classes a DVD that includes pictures of a healthy Jennifer and of a Jennifer whose body was ravaged by the disease. DeSelm got emotional as she spoke of losing her daughter just one year and four days after the diagnosis. Some of Richter's students' eyes also glistened with tears when DeSelm told them, “I held my daughter for 10 hours as she died.”

    Students were surprised to know that every day - not every year, every day - 4,000 U.S. kids under age 18 try smoking for the first time. Erin Bartlett, a Northrop sophomore, said she thought breast cancer, not lung cancer, was the leading cause of cancer deaths.

    “Do you think if tobacco was discovered today it would be legal?” she asked. In unison, students said no. Medical science is unable to predict who can or cannot easily quit - or whose lungs may be more susceptible to the DNA changes in smokers' lung cells that researchers like Dr. Nasser Hanna of Indiana University School of Medicine's Cancer Center are detecting.

    “Why take a chance? Just don't start smoking, and you won't have to worry about it,” DeSelm said.

    Before she died, Jennifer DeSelm Robbins asked her mother to promise she would learn everything she could about lung cancer, then do whatever was possible to prevent the disease from killing others.

    “If one kid can be saved,” DeSelm said, “then I (kept) my promise to Jen.”

    Lung cancer facts

    ♦For every lung cancer death in 2006, the National Cancer Institute spent $1,630 in research, compared with $13,452 per breast cancer death.

    ♦Tobacco use is the cause of one-third of all cancer deaths and one out of every five deaths from heart disease.

    ♦Secondhand smoke causes about 3,400 lung cancer deaths of U.S. non-smokers each year.

    Sources: American Lung Association; American Cancer Society; 2007 Indiana Youth Risk Behavior Survey

    Raising awareness

    More than 10,000 Indiana students have been reached through free education programs by Cancer Free Lungs (formerly Lungs for Life) since the nonprofit was founded in 2005 by thoracic oncologist Dr. Nasser Hanna. Because of the growth of educational services, Cancer Free Lungs is seeking funding to update tools used in the classroom. A walk-a-thon fundraiser will be May 3 at Headwaters Park. Corporate sponsorship is needed. For more information, e-mail Anita DeSelm at anita@ cancerfreelungs.org. Also visit the organization's Web site at cancerfreelungs.org.

    New Here - Mom's First Time on Chemo - up to two months

    in CAREGIVER RESOURCE CENTER

    Posted

    ((((Jackie))))

    What a wonderful and uplifting update! I am so happy that Mom is feeling well and that she is able to get up and around more!

    I am so happy she is having minimal side effects from the treatment.

    Sandra and Judy have both had good suggestions about posting updates in a separate post or forum. You can always post in the updates forum as well.

    Judy mentioned the email letting her know there are new replies to posts. Unless you un~check the box at the bottom of a new post that says notify me with a reply is posted you will receive an email notice. There is also an option at the bottom of each thread that allows you to stop watching a thread or begin watching. I hope this makes sense.. and thank you Judy for mentioning it.

    Hugs to all

    Chris

    FACEBOOK VIRUS

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Hi guys

    Just wanted to let you know that I am still removing spyware from my computer this morning. I did a scan and it found an additional 3 programs and cookies that should not have been on my system.

    I thought I would mention it and recommend that you run your spyware detection and virus scans daily for the next couple of days, just to be sure.

    I hate these people who have nothing better to do than create havoc for everyone. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

    Hugs to all

    Chris

    chemo for christmas

    in CAREGIVER RESOURCE CENTER

    Posted

    Tammy

    So sorry to read this update! I hope the new chemo will do the trick for your husband!

    I don't have any answers for you about the ringing in the ears but I KNOW there are some members on the board that have experienced this. Maybe you can try the search option at the top of the page and try entering ringing in the ears? Also, Dr West's site, cancergrace.org is an excellent resource and he is very helpful in answering questions.

    Sending you lots of hugs and postive thoughts

    Christine

    Off again

    in MEMBER UPDATES

    Posted

    Thanks Everyone.... change in plans for me. I woke up this morning SICK SICK SICK so the trip has been postponed until after the holidays (holiDAZE?)

    I am going to lay around and whine for the weekend and I will be around here when I can be,

    Thanks again

    Christine

    FACEBOOK VIRUS

    in GENERAL

    Posted

    Hi Sue, Randy and Katie,,,

    I did open the stupid thing and the virus got me... BUT..... My windows anti virus/spyware was able to remove it and I am okay computerwise today.

    Just wanted to add that I went to add/delete programs and uninstalled 3 programs with yesterdays date that had "Appeared" after the virus. I don't remember the names but they were NOT something I had added so I am thinking they came in with the trojan virus.

    I hope this helps....

    Hugs

    Chris

    New Here

    in INTRODUCE YOURSELF!

    Posted

    Hello Monique and welcome to the family

    I am so sorry about your Mom's diagnosis but glad you have found this site and joined us. This is the best site for comfort, support, information and understanding and most importantly, HOPE.

    The beginning of this is very overwhelming as there is so much information being tossed at you and your Mom. Be sure and write EVERYTHING down, including your own questions and concerns and ask for copies of ALL test results. Keep all of your information in a notebook or an organizer so it is always in one spot. Don't be afraid to ask for more information either from the doctors or from us. Knowledge is power!

    I truly hope you will continue to post and keep us informed on your Mom...

    Warmly

    Christine

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