A Story of Palliative Care

Carol Thompson and Dr. W. Fred Kinsey

Carol Thompson and Dr. W. Fred Kinsey were able to focus on Fred's needs and medical treatment with Hospice & Community Care's Palliative Medicine Consultants.

Carol M. Thompson stood at her husband's side as he told her, "I don't want to live like this." Her husband, Dr. W. Fred Kinsey, 85, just had emergency colon surgery on a bleak, cold Sunday morning in January.

"He was in ICU with five or six tubes everywhere," Carol explains.

Fred had a heart problem and other health issues. The heart doctor, the urologist, the internist and the surgeon all had different viewpoints on treatment, and each was focused on their particular specialty. Fred desperately wanted the intense pain relieved and he began to yank out his tubes, according to Carol.

When Carol and Fred talked to their minister, she suggested palliative care.

Palliative care, like hospice care, is designed to improve a patient's quality of life, however, unlike hospice care, which is provided when a cure is no longer possible, palliative care is provided while a patient is pursuing treatment for any serious curable, chronic or life threatening illness.

"We had never heard of it," Carol says.

Hospice & Community Care's palliative medicine consultants physician came and talked to both Carol and Fred.

"She asked Fred what he wanted—remarkably, no one had asked that question before," Carol says. "They looked at the big picture, including all of his medical issues and medications. He was treated as a whole person. His pain level was reduced and he was given the medication he needed to be comfortable."

"This is what palliative care can do," Carol says.

According to Carol, after seven days of treatment and monitoring at the Hospice & Community Care inpatient center, Fred was discharged to a rehabilitation hospital where he spent eight days in therapy getting his walking skills and balance back. Following some in-home therapy sessions, Fred returned to his regular routine. He now enjoys water aerobics five or six times a week. Fred and Carol have taken several short trips, and are planning a trip to India in January.

In August, Hospice & Community Care's palliative medicine consultants opened a unique outpatient palliative care clinic in The Essa Flory Center in Lancaster, Pa. Patients will require a referral for palliative care from their physician and an appointment with palliative medicine consultants.

Outpatient palliative care provides an opportunity for patients who are not house-bound or confined to a hospital or nursing home to receive treatment for their illness while continuing to work, enjoy daily activities and spend time with family and friends.

The outpatient palliative clinic will allow palliative medicine consultant physicians to quickly schedule appointments and to see more patients in one day, instead of traveling across the county to see patients at home. Palliative medicine consultants will continue to see patients at home and in skilled nursing facilities, as needed.

Palliative care is billed like any other doctor visit and can be paid through Medicare or private insurance.

Please call (717) 735-3131 for information on Hospice & Community Care's palliative medicine consultants.