The deadly disease of lung cancer occurs when the cells in lung grow uncontrollably and form a mass called as tumor. This lung cancer can begin anywhere in the lung and once a cancerous lung tumor forms, it may or may not shed cancer cells. Palliative care is a specialized care for people suffering from serious illnesses such as lung cancer.
What is Palliative Care?
In simple terms, Palliative Care focuses on providing relief from pain, stress and symptoms. Palliative care aims at managing symptoms being caused by lung cancer. It can be used at any stage of lung cancer with the purpose of improving the quality of life of you as well as your family. It can be provided along with the regular lung cancer treatment.
Who Should Get It?
Anyone with lung cancer can get palliative care to have the best results. It helps not only lung cancer patients but also their families. After being diagnosed with lung cancer, the family members also suffer from feelings of anger, fear and depression. The palliative care teams work together to explore happy feelings and help to come out of emotional and mental trauma.
How Palliative Care Helps Lung Cancer Patients?
Chemotherapy is the common treatment used in lung cancer and palliative care helps to manage its side effects like vomiting, fatigue, diarrhea, insomnia etc. Palliative care can also be helpful in managing pain and fatigue after radiation therapy or surgery. It can work in a variety of ways such as medication, relaxation therapy, massage therapy or guided imagery.
Some of the types of supportive care may include medications for treating pain, nutritional supplements, ways to open airways etc. It may also include emotional support and counseling. Palliative care is provided in clinics, hospital, and care facilities as well as at home. There are special palliative care centers as well.
The information shared in this blog is for educational purposes only. You should talk to your doctor about palliative care options available.
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