00:13 In this episode Val shares that pain is an inevitable part of caregiving, but there is something called palliative care that offers relief for suffering and hope for an improved quality of life for both the patient and the caregiver. Val was frightened when her son was first introduced to palliative care early in treatment. She felt it meant the doctors thought he would not get better. Now she realizes it doesn't mean "end of life care," and sees palliative care as an especially important service for caregivers, whose quality of life can suffer when they learn their loved one has a life threatening illness or disease. She feels palliative care is important to the future of medicine.

01:58 Val compares hospice to palliative care. Val encourages all caregivers to ask their medical team about palliative care and learn more about it and options available.  

02:34 Val explains that with hospice care, the hospice staff takes over the care of the patient and is trained to support the patient and family through the patient's final days. All treatment is stopped except for medications to reduce pain and anxiety.

03:36 Val next explains that the aim of palliative care is to relieve suffering:   physically, mentally, and spiritually for both the patient and the family. The palliative care team includes doctors, nurse specialists, social workers, and chaplains. They work along side the medical treatment team.

4:50  Dr. Rebecca Martin, a palliative care physician  https://www.wmchealth.org/physician-locator/a3f5fc1a-327e-4d50-be2e-8b4b773c3d71 

was Val's source for information about the current state of palliative care in our medical system. Dr. Martin told Val that a good way to distinguish between hospice and palliative care is to understand that all hospice care is palliative, but not all palliative care is hospice.

05:05 Dr. Martin explained to Val that palliative care staff know how to ask the right questions, and they know what words to use to put the patient and the family at ease. She shared it's even important to know the order in which to ask the questions. 

06:22 Val's son was introduced to palliative care early on in his treatment, when he was seen at a specialty center. However, when he transferred care closer to home he was not offered palliative care. She shared that there was a staff position that would have helped him, but the position had not been filled and no one was designated to cover the responsibilities.

06:49 Val wanted to know why palliative care is not offered to everyone and relays that Dr. Martin told her that the longer time a doctor knows a patient, the harder it is for that doctor to acknowledge a poor prognosis. Val mentions the the book, "Being Mortal" by Dr. Atul Gawande. https://atulgawande.com/ 

and shares that from Dr. Gawande's experience, doctors are trained to identify and solve problems, so when they're facing a patient that has a problem they can't solve, it's hard for them to acknowledge that.

07:45 Val shares that she feels every medical team needs a member who will help patients and their families see the bigger truth for each individual case. She feels this will both alleviate  and prevent suffering during curative treatment and when curative treatment ends.

09:24 Both Dr. Martin and Val's spiritual director Beth helped Val see events in her life for what they are: painful and tragic. Putting words to her experience has helped Val cope.

09:49 Val shares that the next episode of Caregiver Tea Time will be about grief.

10:15 Val shares an update about a new experience seeing eagles and this gives her a feeling of connection with her husband and son.

11:34  Val shares the cheer she has for this episode:  "Help is out there, and I'm going to ask for it!"

Additional information and links can be found at:

https://www.caregiverteatime.com/

Look for the full version of Val's theme song, Nothing But the Good Things on your favorite music streaming service now!