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2018年的一天早上，露丝·希尔（Ruth Hill）起床后，感觉自己的脊柱真的断了. The 53-year-old collapsed to the floor.
“我知道发生了灾难性的事情，”露丝说. 她很快得知她的六块椎骨破裂，两块椎骨爆炸. 科罗拉多斯普林斯医院的医生, 露丝去哪里看望她的儿子和孙子, gave her even more devastating news.
“You’re filled with cancer. It’s incurable,” he told her. “大发娱乐要带你上楼检查你的大脑. 如果它在你的大脑里，你活不了多久了.”
Diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer露丝在科罗拉多医院住了10天，直到她路过 Life Flight to Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U). 她记得自己躺在床上感到绝望. Then a man with glasses came into the room. He sat down by her bed and took her hand.
“I’m not going to let you die,” said Douglas Sborov, MD, MS, 多发性骨髓瘤项目主任，美国国立大学血液学研究所副教授. 这位医生的话点燃了她内心的一束光.
Treatment for her cancer began, and palliative care started a few weeks later. 护理人员问了露丝很多问题：关于她的疼痛, what she liked and didn’t like doing, plus—most importantly—how she wanted to live.
“它让你从一个病人变成一个人，”露丝说.
他解释说，姑息治疗的目的是给人一种控制感 Holli Martinez, FNP-BC, 大发娱乐支持和姑息治疗项目的高级实践临床医师主任.
马丁内斯说：“这是一群受过专业训练的临床医生组成的团队。. “We focus on improving quality of life, easing symptoms, 大发娱乐指导现在和未来的医疗, 加强患者及其家属的应对能力.”
Hospice Care vs. Palliative Care
临终关怀何时适合病人, 由于病情严重，他们很可能在六个月内去世. 他们还决定在他们居住的地方接受以舒适为导向的医疗服务, which may be their private residence, a long-term care facility, or an assisted living facility.
Read more about the 缓和疗护与安宁疗护的区别 for people with cancer.
这并不一定意味着病人——无论他们是孩子还是成年人——很快就会离开人世. 事实上，许多接受姑息治疗的人往往带着严重的疾病生活多年.
“它能让病人和关心他们的人生活得更好——即使是那些有可能治愈的病人,” Martinez says.
露丝的第一个目标是尽快停用所有的止痛药. 姑息治疗大发娱乐提供者与她一起寻找实现这一目标的策略和新方法，比如 acupuncture to help decrease her nausea.
她的姑息治疗团队问她是否可以考虑心理健康治疗. At first, Ruth dismissed the idea. 但后来她重新考虑了——直到今天她都很感激这个决定.
A year and a half after Ruth’s diagnosis, her husband of 34 years, Lance, unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm. 第二天早上，她的第一个电话打给了弗吉尼亚州LCSW的詹妮弗·米汉格斯（Jennifer Mijangos） social worker at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
“我意识到她一直在教我如何悲伤癌症——但她也在教我如何悲伤,” Ruth says. “When Lance died, I already had the steps.”
大多数姑息治疗都是在露丝这样的人还在医院的时候开始的. 护理可以跟随病人从急诊室到重症监护病房再到康复. 当病人回到家中，姑息治疗要么是虚拟的，要么是在诊所进行的. It may ultimately also include spiritual care, wellness and integrative health, advance care planning, and more.
“当你爱的人身患重病时，整个家庭都会受到影响,” Martinez says. “Many family members say, ‘I’m so glad we had this conversation, because I wouldn’t have known my mom’s wishes.’”
露丝的团队帮她草拟了自己的葬礼计划. “I became so empowered by that,” she says.
2024年夏天，露丝接受了第254次化疗. 她继续全职工作，最近又再婚了.
但有一段时间，她害怕离开亨茨曼癌症研究所太远. What if the cancer flared again?
She credits Meredith Bannon, PA-C她是姑息治疗团队的医师助理，感谢她给了她再次旅行的勇气. 他们一起设计了一个装有止痛药和抗焦虑药物的应急包，以防旅途中出现意外. 露丝计划去布达佩斯旅行，并随身带着她的应急包.
“她给了我这个策略，让我的生活没有恐惧，”露丝说. “I may have cancer, but I’m a mom. I’m a grandma. I’m a partner. I’m a new wife.”
如果有人问他们是否应该考虑姑息治疗, Ruth has a simple response: “Why not? 使用所有可用的工具，找出适合你的旅程的工具.”
Growth of Palliative Care
Over the last few decades, 姑息治疗在犹他州和全国都呈指数级增长，很大程度上是因为医学的进步使重病患者活得更长. The palliative care team at the U, 从2005年开始，两名执业护士和一名兼职医生, now counts 28 full- and part-time providers, including hospice, palliative medicine, and advanced practice clinician fellows.
Learn more about palliative care at Huntsman Cancer Institute.