Is life with a terminal illness hopeless? Not at all. Seriously ill individuals thrive on hope, just like the rest of us. It gives us a sense of purpose.

According to hospice expert Cathleen Fanslow-Brunjes, hope in serious illness typically has four main stages:

- Hope for a cure. “I’m not going to let this stop me.”
-  Hope for treatment. “I think the radiation is really working!”
- Hope for prolongation of life. “I want to go to the family reunion.”
- Hope for a peaceful death. “I’m hoping for no pain in my final days.”

The four stages often align with disease progression. But it’s not uncommon for a person to move back and forth among them.

Knowing the four stages, you can better support your family member in sustaining his or her hope. Listen carefully for comments that indicate hope.

Many families are concerned about “realistic hope.” Find out what your loved one is hoping for and ask the doctor if it is feasible. If so, then all of you can work toward this shared goal.

If the hope is not realistic, it may signal the need for a change in care goals. But it does not mean your loved one must be without hope! Instead, it means you need to talk together with the doctor and come up with a more achievable project or purpose.

Dr. David Casarett, a hospice physician, wrote an insightful book about this topic called “Last Acts.” It specifically looks at the many ways his patients chose to find meaning in their last few months, weeks, and days.

Hope is always available. We just need help knowing how to look for it.

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Joann Davis, CEO of Hospice & Palliative CareCenter on Triad Today!

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With periodic flare-ups and dashes to the ER, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when caring for a loved one with a lung condition, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The COPD Management Tool, developed by the American Lung Association, empowers you to help your loved one prevent crises through better management of the disease. Several simple forms guide you in communicating with the doctor so you are all on the same page. Best of all, the forms take the guesswork out of decision making on those days when symptoms start to flare.

The tool has two components:

• The COPD Management/Action Plan. Complete this one-page document with the doctor. The first section, in blue, summarizes your loved one’s current lung conditions and the doctor’s basic treatment plan. The “COPD Action Plan” section provides at-a-glance descriptions of what to do, depending on how your loved one is feeling. It groups symptoms into good days (green), bad days (yellow), and emergency situations (red). Review these descriptions with the doctor so you and your loved one will know what to do in each case.
• The COPD Report Card. This two-page form helps you give your care providers a quick snapshot of how things have been going since your last visit. Before a routine check-up, use it to summarize symptoms. During a flare-up, refer to it to describe recent symptoms for emergency personnel.

The forms take only minutes to complete. And once the management and action plans are in hand, you and your loved one will find it much easier to know what to do when symptoms get worse. Now that’s a plan for staying out of the ER!

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Maria made the call and became a patient at Hospice & Palliative CareCenter. This is her story.

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