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Archive for January 2012

Prometheus’ Predicament Part 3 of 3: Happily ever after in hospice

The patient told his doctor that he would likely start binge drinking if left to his own devices in his home and wants to be in the palliative care unit or a nursing home setting. How does one find a nursing home bed for an able bodied (relatively speaking) middle aged person? Read the rest of this entry »

Gen X Family Caregivers

By 2030 there will be 3 seniors for every "kid." And in an age of divorce, the caregiving complexities go up by the square (step-parents, half-siblings, step-siblings...). Nearly half of Boomers have been divorced, so their kids now have 2 households to juggle. And many men are estranged from their children. In the divorce, "mom kept the kids," physically and emotionally. Read the rest of this entry »

Prometheus’ Predicament Part 2 of 3: Prognostication in ETOH Hepatitis

Key prognostic indicators in ETOH hepatitis include the Maddry Discriminant Function and MELD scores. The DF helps in determining management strategy as well with the DF cut off of 32 ..... read more... Read the rest of this entry »

Prometheus’ Predicament Part 1 of 3: A case of ETOH Hepatitis

A patient in his fifties was brought in by his mother on his birthday for acute detoxification. Patient had been holed up alone in his home binge drinking for many weeks. When mom went to wish him for his birthday, she noticed that he was inebriated, jaundiced and had lost a lot of weight and drove him immediately to the ER Read the rest of this entry »

Cancer Survivorship: Does Palliative Care Have a Role?

How can we best support post-treatment cancer survivors who still report symptoms such as chronic pain and anxiety but no longer have a terminal diagnosis? What is the role of palliative care in this setting? Read the rest of this entry »

My biggest stumbling block

Actually, I have never gotten a palliative care consult from a single cardiologist in my current position. And I keep asking why? I go to the cardiology meetings and talk to the physicians. I see patients in the outpatient CHF clinic when asked. I am even a part of the CHF readmission task force. I put articles in the charts of patients with end stage CHF about the benefits of palliative care on symptoms and caregiver burden. And yet I get nothing. Read the rest of this entry »

American Board of Internal Medicine releases new MOC module on Hospice and Palliative Medicine

We have achieved a huge milestone for palliative care. Earn 10 MOC credits by completing of the new ABIM Hospice and Palliative Medicine Self Evaluation Module! This module consists of 25 multiple choice questions, rationale for the answer choices for each question and a set of references. Read the rest of this entry »

What a year….already!

As I come to the end of a very busy week, I can't help but bit relieved not to be on call this weekend. I am very much looking forward to taking care of some things around the house and for myself. Read the rest of this entry »
Can We Talk?
Watch and share this five minute video about the need for prophylactic end-of-life conversations. Laura Heldebrand, an ICU nurse tells her mother's story.
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