Allina Hospice & Palliative Care is committed to helping patients living with chronic or advanced illness. Here are a few of the many ways we are affecting the lives of palliative patients and their loved ones:
A retired truck driver with heart failure was referred to palliative care. His physician told him there was no cure for the disease. His adult children wanted to do all they could. The palliative care clinician worked with him and his family as they tried and discussed other treatment options, including visiting a heart transplant program, which was presented as his last hope. The clinician facilitated communication amongst the family, understanding the massive amounts of information, options and possibilities. Together good communication made his time comfortable and he had the peace of mind that he and his family had made the right decisions with the support of Allina Palliative Care.
A mother with recurrent breast cancer was in the ICU with a life threatening complication of her illness. The oncologist requested a Palliative Care consult to help her family which included her parents and five children (three of which are school age.) The Palliative Care team helped communicate about the prognosis, support the children and other family members, and assisted with advance care planning. Together hospital staff and the Allina Palliative Care team were able to support the family and help them cope during this difficult situation.
"I feel so much better with something so important to do," explained the 74-year-old Palliative Care patient. With the cost of her medications slightly less than her social security income, finding room in her budget for yarn or her crocheting hobby seemed impossible. The Allina Hospice & Palliative Care TLC fund helps out patients and families who do not have the resources for small but important expenditures, like purchasing yarn. The Palliative Care patient has been crocheting baby blankets for a local organization that helps out mothers who have limited financial resources. Allina Palliative Care periodically checks in on her to manage her health care needs and symptoms.
Allina Home Care, Hospice & Palliative Care
1055 Westgate Drive
Suite 100
Saint Paul, MN 55114
651-635-9173 E-mail us
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