Dying Well with a Terminal Illness

Some of the funerals at funeral homes in Solvay, NY are the result of death from a terminal illness. Being diagnosed with a terminal illness is often shocking. However, there are ways to cope well with a terminal illness, even in the face of certain death.

Terminal illnesses come in many forms. They might be cancers, organ failures, or coronary diseases. They may be neurodegenerative conditions like Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS), Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, or a form of dementia.

After diagnosis of a terminal illness, there is a period of adjustment for both the person suffering from the terminal illness and their family. Planning begins for caregiving and for the end of life.

Part of the caregiving plan, though, should include palliative care. There are three types of in-home health care that are available to anyone who is sick. Each one serves a different need and purpose.

Home health care is usually prescribed after an acute illness that has led to a hospital admission. Home health care will continue until the acute illness has resolved. Home health care includes nurse visits, access to physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, the acquisition of medical equipment, help with bathing and grooming, and 24/7 access to medical help.

Embedded in many terminal illnesses are acute illnesses that require hospitalization. Once the body is sick in one area, its defenses are weakened throughout, leading to other types of illness, such as urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and severe dehydration. In the cases, home health care will be available until the acute illness is resolved.

However, after the acute illness has resolved and home health care is no longer needed, many people believe they are facing a medical care gap until the person with the terminal illness reaches the end stages and is eligible for hospice care.

The good news is that there is no medical care gap. Palliative care is available after home health care has ended. Palliative care offers all the same services as home health care, with the only difference being that nurse visits, unless an emergency crops up, are scheduled for just once a week (with home health care, nurse visits might start out being daily and then level off to two or three visits a week).

Palliative care continues until hospice care begins. This can help a person with a terminal illness in many ways.

With access to physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, a person with a terminal illness may have the capability to stay active and mobile longer, as well as have a better overall quality of life, than if they don’t have palliative care.

Palliative care is also of benefit to the caregivers for the terminally-ill person. They have access to medical help when they need it. Many times, as terminal illnesses progress, the person with the terminal illness may be too tired or too week to go to doctor’s appointments. The nurse on the palliative care team can communicate directly with the doctor to report conditions and get any necessary medication changes.

Additionally, palliative care offers assistance with bathing and grooming, which can relieve some of that burden from family caregivers, if they need it.

For more information about dying well at funeral homes in Solvay, NY, our compassionate and experienced team at Bagozzi Twins Funeral Home, Inc. is here to help you. You can visit our funeral home at 2601 Milton Ave., Solvay, NY 13209, or you can call us today at (315) 468-2431.