Carry on....

Many have heard me say so many positive things about hospice care, but it occurred to me that I have never really written about it.  I think I figured the longer most people did not know the details, the better off I would be….will not be the first time I have made a ridiculous assumption and fair warning…I am sure it will not be the last. But here is one of my new most favorite “ah-ha” discoveries.  As people you can divide us by gender, race, religion, hair color and this list can go on forever, but the reality is there are only 2 kinds of people…Alive ones and dead ones, and for the record, I am in the alive category and quite like it! The choice is not if we carry on, but how we chose to carry on.

Most of the time a friend or acquaintance will hear the word hospice, gasp, and assume I have one foot in the grave and death.  That’s a fair assumption.  In the beginning, is was what hospice was.  Allowing people to die and home with dignity, no tubes, no drama.  And they do still do that.

However, “palliative” care has been overlooked and the state of Florida discourages doctors from practicing palliative care except under the umbrella of hospice. Actually, I suspect this is more about the doctor’s liability and lawsuits for the insurance companies.  Palliative care does not try to cure what we all know is uncurable but helps us manage the symptoms and our other resources.

Palliative care is awesome.  The regular cardiologists were going to kill me and my savings account even with insurance with all of their chronic and quite frankly horribly invasive testing! Hospice care sends a nurse to me once a week (no more camping out in doctor’s waiting rooms and exam rooms for hours, my meds are mailed to me) they manage my symptoms ensuring that I have the best, most productive, painless life possible for me. 

There is no doubt in my mind that I would be unable to do one half of what I can do today without their help, guidance, and the constant changing and addition of symptom controlling meds.  But if I can leave one bit of wisdom with you, it would be… do not wait for the typical rule, which is waiting  for your doc to tell you there is only months or weeks to live before.  Hospice and palliative care can give you so so much more and I was so incredibly fortunate to meet with this man and spend a couple of hours with him before making any of my big decisions, I have never regretted it!

"Carry on" Croby, Stills, Nash, and Young