Palliative Care for Breast Cancer !

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

For those with breast cancer, it’s vital to understand the full range of care options that are available. When it comes to receiving palliative care, breast cancer patients should know it’s not giving up — it’s about improving quality of life.

Palliative care is an option you have after diagnosis. During the difficult process of treating breast cancer, palliative care can help patients gain strength and improve the ability to tolerate curative treatments, while easing any unwanted and distressing side effects, such as nausea and shortness of breath.

It provides expert pain and symptom management, as well as emotional support to revitalize quality of life while your physicians work to cure or manage your cancer. Palliative care has been proven to be beneficial at every stage of a serious illness.

For some breast cancer patients, treatment is no longer an option because the disease is progressing in spite of curative treatments like chemotherapy or radiation. In those circumstances, Palliative Care eases a patient’s transition from fighting their illness to acceptance and comfort.

Palliative Care is a specialized, compassionate approach to caring for those with serious illness who may have weeks or months, rather than years, to live. The focus is not on giving up, but on caring for the whole person, with expert pain and symptom management and emotional and spiritual support, to improve quality of life.

St Bernard’s Hospice provides medical and supportive care for your physical, mental and spiritual well-being and nurtures you and your loved ones as far as possible, to give you comfort, peace and a sense of fulfilment during this sensitive and significant time.

Find out more about palliative care on our website at www.stbh.org.za

https://stbernardshospice.org.za/st-bernards-hospice-video/