Chemo, blood issues and Hospice Care?

Question:

I've posted some questions concerning my mother in law and her aggressive stage IV cervical cancer. She was given the option to seek Hospice care, or receive palliative chemo. She had opted for the chemo and received her first (out of three) dose three weeks ago. Obviously she had some pretty bad side effects and the doctor cancelled her next treatment because her blood isn't right, and they keep having to give her blood. I'm not quite sure if her blood will ever be stable enough to receive another dose of chemo, nor if the doctor is crazy about attempting any more chemo treatments. In the meantime, she is thinking of moving into a palliative (Hospice) center soon. I've looked into how it works, but my question is, is that if her blood continues to not be right, I know Hospice offers comfort and pain management, but not any agressive life saving techniques, but would they be able to give her blood when needed? I wasn't sure what they were prepared to deal with or not.

Answers:
Those are questions you will want to ask her new doctors. At the facility my dad is at, they do not give treatment. They are basically a place that sits their and watches you. Like a day care of adults. Very very sad. The place also was not in the greatest condition. But then again my dad did not have insurance and it was paid for by medicare. So he was not getting a fancy place. The home he was also in does not hook you up to any machines at all. No breathing tubes, no heart monitor. Basically, they just make you comfortable. Give you some meds and put you on a bed infront of a TV.
I am really sorry to tell you this but it sounds like you are getting down to the end of the line. I really wish you the best and I hope your mother turns around and the cancer subsides.

Hospice has changed. You should search around more. Hopsice patients actually live longer because they provide care that is for patients like your mother.

Shop around for Hospice.

I don't have the answer for you, but I can tell you my personal experience. I got lung cancer two and half years ago, and went through surgery, radiation, chemo and everything. Cancer did not kill me, but the chemo almost did. When taking chemo the second time, I took Chinese medicines at the same time, this time I did not feel any side effect and the results were very good.

The story I want to tell is about a girl I met in the hospital also receiving treatment for her lung cancer with metastasis to her brain (5 tumors) and spine. This hospital is in Shanghai, China specialized in treating cancers with Chinese medicines. When she came to this hospital, she depended on morphine shots to stop the pains. After two months of treatment, she walked few kilometers everyday without any pains. I am now a firm believer that combining western treatment and Chinese treatment is the solution of treatment cancers.

For your mother in law's condition, she needs chemo, but I would suggest that she also take some Chinese medicines to protect her body organs against the side effect of chemo, and to improve her immune system. The chemo drugs are just too harmful for anyone, sometimes worse than cancer itself.

Chemo, blood issues and Hospice Care?

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