Before funerals at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI, you may live months or years with a serious illness that will eventually end in death. But you want to have good life for whatever time you have left, even though your illness presents many challenges and bumps in the road. Palliative care can help you make the most of the time you have left.

When you have a serious illness, there are many aspects that you have to deal with related to that illness. You may have chronic pain. You may be unsure about the trajectory of your illness and what that means for your future. You may concern about family members who are taking care of you and what will happen to them after you die.

Palliative care is a medical specialty for anyone who has a chronic, curable, or terminal illness. Palliative care can help to alleviate and prevent needless suffering. Palliative care can help you have a better quality of life.

Palliative care, for the record, is not hospice care. It is an intermediate level of care between home health care (after an acute illness or hospitalization) and hospice care (end of life care).

Palliative care provides relief for the symptoms and pain associated with your illness.

They can also give you guidance for making difficult medical decisions. Palliative care offers emotional and spiritual support, and they make it easier to navigate the everchanging healthcare system.

Palliative care is provided by physicians, nurses, social workers, physical therapists, chaplains, and dieticians who are specially trained in palliative care medicine. The palliative care team will work with your other doctors who are treating your illness.

You can still see your primary care physician, even if you are receiving palliative care. Your primary care physician will be an integral part of your palliative care team, and, since they know your medical history better than the palliative care team, they will provide valuable input into the care you receive.

If you would like to begin receiving palliative care for your illness, your primary care physician can refer you to a palliative care doctor. You can receive palliative care when you’re hospitalized or when you’re at home. Palliative care is also available for residents of assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities.

Most private insurance companies will cover palliative care services, as will Medicare. If you have Medicaid insurance, you will need to check with your provider to see what kind of coverage they have for palliative care services.

Palliative care offers you whole person care. It can help you manage the stress of a serious illness and it can help you improve your quality of life. Because palliative care is geared toward relieving the symptoms of chronic illnesses, pain and anxiety management are included in their care for you.

There has been extensive research indicating that cancer patients, who endure considerable pain from the cancer itself and severe side effects from radiation and chemotherapy, who receive palliative care are more apt to complete chemotherapy treatment. These patients also said they had a higher quality of life compared to cancer patients who didn’t receive palliative care.

Although you may be diagnosed with a terminal illness or a chronic illness that will lead to death, palliative care can give you a better quality of life and can help you manage the worst of the symptoms of your illness, so that you can get the most out of the time you have left.

For information about planning funerals at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.