A Lesson in Cancer and Palliative Care

When she was originally diagnosed, I knew nothing of palliative care. I had only heard about hospice, and the use of that word terrified me.

BY Kim Johnson

PUBLISHED January 26, 2018

Kim is a nursing student who is hoping to find her place amongst the phenomenal oncology nurses and doctors who cared for her sister. She loves reading, volunteering and enjoying the outdoors of Colorado.

When you think of cancer what is the first thing that comes to mind? When I asked my mom, she said “survival.” My dad said “devastating” and my twin said “disease.” I can’t say that any of the answers from my family are wrong. It once again highlights that cancer is different to everyone. In my case, if somebody were to ask me, the first word that I think of is “change.”

Life changes, always. With cancer, it feels like that sentiment is magnified to an innumerable degree. During cancer, the path to remission and a cure isn’t ever an easy one. When that diagnosis comes, it immediately places you in a situation that you most likely never would expect to find yourself in. It is from that singular moment in time that a new mindset is created and an educational process begins.

Read More:

How a Terminal Cancer Diagnosis Can Change Everything

One caregiver grapples with the consequences of her sister's terminal cancer diagnosis. 

BY Kim Johnson

PUBLISHED December 28, 2017

Kim is a nursing student who is hoping to find her place amongst the phenomenal oncology nurses and doctors who cared for her sister. She loves reading, volunteering and enjoying the outdoors of Colorado.

When one hears the word cancer, it can elicit a variety of reactions. Personally, the only word that struck a deeper chord was hearing the word “terminal.” To be told that even today, with all that modern medicine has to offer and how far we have come, it is the saddest of realities that people still do die from cancer.

It is also a reality that it is 2017, and while people still lose their respective battles to cancer, they are living longer than they previously did. That in large part is due to prolonging life with quality through various medical services such as palliative care.

When it came to my sister, we heard the word “terminal” used multiple times. Each time it was just as jarring as the time before. It did not make me any more prepared for what the actuality of that statement truly meant. As she continued living life despite the looming diagnosis of terminal hanging over her, we discussed that a grieving process was going to occur.

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Palliative Care: Putting a Cloak on Cancer - Cancer Today

From the Editor-in-Chief

Palliative Care: Putting a Cloak on Cancer

By William G. Nelson, MD, PhD

Palliative care, derived from the Latin word “pallium” for cloak, addresses symptoms and distress accompanying serious illnesses. The field is emerging as a vital medical specialty in the multidisciplinary treatment of cancer. 

While the notion that physicians should seek both to cure disease and to alleviate suffering has underpinned medical practice for centuries, specialized palliative medicine grew out of the modern hospice movement launched in the 1960s by Cicely Saunders, an English nurse, social worker, physician and writer. Though hospices had long served the impoverished terminally ill, Saunders’ establishment in 1967 of St. Christopher’s Hospice in London created a site for expert pain and symptom relief, psychosocial and spiritual care, clinical research and teaching. Hospices based on this model grew quickly across the United Kingdom, the United States and the world.

Read the Full Post- Cancer Today

Understanding Palliative Care - Cancer Today

Palliative care, which takes a holistic approach to care, isn't just for patients in the final stages of their lives.

Palliative care specialist Tom Smith, a medical oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore and a Cancer Today Editorial Advisory Board member, discusses how palliative care complements treatment, and why it's important to talk about end-of-life care well before you need these services. This video is a companion piece to an article,  "Making Decisions About End-of-Life Care," which was published in the Fall 2016 issue of Cancer Today. | Video produced by Patient Power LLC.

Learn More - Cancer Today