Lightbridge Medical Associateshttps://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/2015-11-20T10:19:04.416523-08:00Providing Palliative Care in San DiegoPalliative Care: A Second Chance - DEADRA’S STORY2015-11-20T10:16:09-08:002015-11-20T10:19:04.416523-08:00Stephanie Seitleshttps://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/author/steph/https://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/palliative-care-a-second-chance-deadras-story/<div class="panel-pane pane-node-title">
<h1><a href="http://moments.nhpco.org/deadras-story" target="_blank">Watch the Video</a></h1>
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<td>Sometimes referred to as “comfort care,” palliative care is a specialized approach to the treatment of patients with a serious or life-threatening illness. The goal of palliative care is to provide relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of serious illness. It is also designed to improve the quality of life forboth the patient and the patient’s family.</td>
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<p>Deadra Gladden does not feel defined by illness anymore. But that wasn’t always the case. This 28-year-old from New Jersey has battled lupus for half of her young life. The auto-immune disease put her in the hospital multiple times. Deadra’s kidneys failed, she needed heart valve replacement surgery and eventually, she suffered a stroke.</p>
<p>In May of 2014, Deadra’s fight was becoming too much to bear. She was back in the hospital, feeling hopeless, and in excruciating pain. She was also grieving the loss of her sister, Danielle, who died from the same disease in 2013. </p>
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<p class="split">Deadra’s doctors told her family it was time to call hospice. But after a consult with a nurse from Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice, a palliative care team was brought in instead. While lupus can’t be cured, it can be managed with the right treatments.</p>
<p>Dr. Stephen Goldfine and Dr. Marianne Holler worked closely with Deadra to identify which treatments would work best to manage her pain. They helped her recognize that anxiety was worsening many of the symptoms she was feeling.</p>
<p>With proper symptom management and emotional support from Samaritan, Deadra has gotten her life back. “Samaritan’s palliative care gave me a second chance,” she says. Deadra left the hospital, her spirits lifted and her mind set on living life to the fullest.</p>
<p>She receives regular visits from her palliative care doctor who monitors her</p>
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<p class="split">symptoms and manages her care plan. Though she still requires physical therapy and dialysis, Deadra is able to take part in some of life’s most precious moments. She spends times with her family including her beloved nieces and nephews. She is an active member of her church and she’s even writing a book! </p>
<p>With the support of palliative care, Deadra is able to write about the joys in life because she’s able to experience them again. She credits Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice for allowing her to feel like a person. She says, “They listened and saved my life!”</p>
<p>Learn more about <a class="ext" href="https://www.samaritannj.org/" target="_blank">Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice</a>.</p>
<p>To learn more about palliative care, visit <a class="ext" href="http://www.momentsoflife.org/palliativecare" target="_blank">www.momentsoflife.org/palliativecare</a> or download our <a href="http://moments.nhpco.org/sites/default/files/public/moments/Listicle_Palliative_Care.pdf">palliative care listicle</a> that highlights some of the most common questions asked about palliative care.</p>
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<p>- See more at: http://moments.nhpco.org/deadras-story#sthash.Eg21Gwi9.dpuf</p>Patients Turn to Palliative Care for Relief from Serious Illness: The Wall Street Journal 2014-12-29T11:12:06-08:002015-04-08T14:06:42.427450-07:00Stephanie Seitleshttps://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/author/steph/https://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/patients-turn-to-palliative-care-for-relief-from-serious-illness-the-wall-street-journal/<p><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">Patients with serious illnesses need medical treatments to survive. But they are increasingly taking advantage of the specialty known as palliative care, which offers day-to-day relief from symptoms as well as stress and lifestyle management.</span></p>
<p>Though often regarded as only for older patients with terminal illness before they enter hospice programs at the end of life, palliative care is increasingly being offered to patients of any age with a range of chronic illnesses such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s. It may be provided at the same time as curative medical regimens to help patients tolerate side effects of disease and treatment, and carry on with everyday life.</p>
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<div class="media-object-interactiveIframe"><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">“Most people who need palliative care are in fact not dying, but have one or more chronic diseases which they may live with for many years,” says Diane E. Meier, director of the nonprofit Center to Advance Palliative Care and a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. For a 24-year-old with acute leukemia, there is a 70% chance of survival, Dr. Meier says, “but the treatment is physically devastating, and that suffering is remediable with palliative care.”</span></div>
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<p>The number of palliative-care programs has more than tripled over the past decade. Now, two-thirds of hospitals with 50 beds or more and 80% of those with 250 beds or more have programs, according to Dr. Meier’s center, which helps consumers locate programs. Many hospitals are creating outpatient clinics to help patients with preventable crises, such as severe shortness of breath, remain at home and avoid trips to the ER and hospitalizations. Studies show not only can palliative care improve quality of life but also it can actually extend life for some patients.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque, N.M., which includes eight hospitals, a health plan, and a physician group, launched palliative-care outpatient clinics in 2012 and now offers them at five primary-care offices and two oncology offices. “We have cancer patients who are not certain this will be the end of their life, and may be stable, so we walk the walk with them for a long time” says Dr. Nancy Guinn, medical director of Presbyterian Healthcare at Home.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">To Read Full Article: <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/patients-turn-to-palliative-care-for-relief-from-serious-illness-1419288669?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp" target="_blank">Patients Turn to Palliative Care for Relief from Serious Illness</a></span></p>
<p><em><span style="line-height: 1.428571429;">Photo: Amy Berman at the Great Wall of China. Ms. Berman says palliative care has helped her live with pain and side effects of treatment for her breast cancer. SUSAN BRELUS</span></em></p>Who Should Receive Palliative Care?2014-12-20T18:50:19-08:002015-04-08T14:06:20.142326-07:00Stephanie Seitleshttps://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/author/steph/https://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/who-should-receive-palliative-care/<p>Diane Meier, MD, FACP<br/>Director, Center to Advance Palliative Care<br/>Director, Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute</p>
<p>On who should receive Palliative care. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnFHQAzBbZ8" target="_blank">Watch Video Here</a></p>Benefits of Palliative Care2014-12-20T18:39:42-08:002015-04-08T14:06:26.616228-07:00Stephanie Seitleshttps://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/author/steph/https://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/benefits-of-palliative-care/<p>Diane Meier, MD, FACP, Director, Center to Advance Palliative Care, explains the key benefits of hospital palliative care. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgXDbOnDa-s" target="_blank">Watch Video Here</a></p>What is Palliative Care2014-12-20T18:32:48-08:002015-04-08T14:06:38.830091-07:00Stephanie Seitleshttps://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/author/steph/https://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/what-is-palliative-care/<p>Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP, Director, Center to Advance Palliative Care, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, explains what Palliative care is. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVl0llNygCg" target="_blank">To Watch Video</a></p>Chasing the Tiger2014-12-20T12:53:15-08:002015-04-08T14:06:32.393399-07:00Stephanie Seitleshttps://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/author/steph/https://lightbridgemedical.com/resources/chasing-the-tiger/<div id="watch-uploader-info"><strong class="watch-time-text" style="line-height: 1.428571429;">Published on Jul 17, 2012</strong></div>
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<p>Chasing the Tiger—a video adaptation of Gail Sheehy's new play. Having acted as her husband's caregiver for 17 years, Gail Sheehy—who has chronicled every major turning point for 20th-century Americans—understands firsthand the fears and frustrations of family caregiving, and offers help. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiHgaR3VziE" target="_blank">Watch the Video</a></p>
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