how palliative caregiver identifies pain associated with different forms of cancer

Post on 06-Jul-2015

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Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

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How palliative caregiver identifies pain associated with different forms of

cancer

A palliative care provider is supposed to become the most dependable

support system for an ailing person or an extremely aged individual. At

times, the care provider is even put to a situation where he is supposed to

become the cynosure of a suffering patient when the family members and

loved ones of the person fail to win his confidence. Thus, it can be

understood from here that job of a professional palliative service provider is

really challenging. However, this challenge is a driving force that is inspiring

lots of young professionals to come to this profession.

If you are interested to start a career in live in care, you need to know the

manner in which these professionals deal with pain among cancer patients.

We can provide a brief knowledge on this. Start reading ahead.

Case One: An elderly patient suffering from pain associated with lung

cancer

When a palliative caregiver is supposed to give his service to an elderly lung

cancer patient who is suffering from severe pain, he will have to identify the

root cause behind this pain.

Generally, the pain that is associated with lung cancer emerges from

situations like physiological anxiety, intensification of disease, delirium, etc.

Then, the care provider has to exclude each of these factors by making a

comparative analysis of the associated symptoms. When the care provider

understands the exact cause of this pain, he will have to customize his

service accordingly.

Case Two: A middle aged man suffering from pain associated with renal

cancer

When a middle-aged renal cancer patient suffers from excruciating pain, the

caregiver is supposed to perform a detailed examination of his neurological

and musculoskeletal system. Then bone metastases of the spinal area have

to be done to determine if the associated symptoms like pain and

tenderness are found in the patient.

If no symptom of metastases of the spine is found, the caregiver has to

examine the patient for symptoms of cancerous spinal cord compression.

The caregiver has to check for the relative symptoms of this complication,

which generally occur in the form of back pain, diminished bowel capacity,

lack of reflex, tenderness of the spinal cord, etc. Medicines have to be

administered to the patient according to the problem he is suffering from.

Case Three: A middle aged woman suffering from pain associated with

breast cancer

When a middle-aged woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, she may

report to the palliative care provider that he is suffering from pain in the

right shoulder. The care provider must diagnose the patient to understand if

the pain in accelerating in nature and if the pain is radiating towards the

right arm from her right shoulder. He must examine the patient for further

symptoms like burning pain, muscular weakness, etc. and provide the

relevant medication accordingly.

For More Information on Palliative Care Services, Log on to:

http://www.logacare.com

Contact Us:

Loga Care, The Hopkiln, Bury Court, Bentley, Hampshire, GU10 5LZ

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