Senior Care Blog

How Does Your Senior Know it’s Time to Quit Chemotherapy?

Making the decision to quit chemotherapy is more complicated than it seems.
Hospice Care Gainesville, TX: Seniors and Chemotherapy
Hospice Care Gainesville, TX: Seniors and Chemotherapy
Hospice Care Gainesville, TX: Seniors and Chemotherapy
Hospice Care Gainesville, TX: Seniors and Chemotherapy

Any serious illness brings with it a lot of choices. That’s especially true for cancer. Chemotherapy is a common treatment, but it’s notorious for being hard on the person as well as the illness. If your elderly family member is considering stopping chemotherapy, she may be wondering if she’s considering that idea too soon or whether hospice care is the right choice for her now.

The Side Effects Seem to Be Worsening

Often a big reason for people to stop chemotherapy is that the side effects are becoming worse. This might have been the case for a while for your senior before it all just becomes too much. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to take a break from side effects that are uncomfortable. 

Your Senior’s Doctor Is Changing Her Prognosis

Your elderly family member’s medical team offers her a prognosis that updates with each new major development in her treatment. If her doctor is seeing signs that her prognosis is worsening, it might be time to talk about hospice care. This type of care is recommended when your senior’s doctor believes that she has six months or fewer left. A prognosis that continues to worsen may cause your senior to think about quitting chemotherapy.

There Aren’t Any More Treatment Options

Some types of cancer are incredibly stubborn and do not respond well to treatments. Your elderly family member may have tried a variety of types of chemotherapy and other curative treatments, only to find that they haven’t worked for her. If she’s at the end of her list of options for treatment, that may cause her to lean toward hospice care as the next step.

Your Senior Wants to Stop Treatments

It’s also possible that your elderly family member just decides that she no longer wants to continue chemotherapy treatments. This may not have anything to do with side effects or other issues, but she may just feel that it’s time for her to stop active treatment. Your elderly family member may feel this way if she’s been battling cancer for a long time or if she is just overwhelmed with appointments and having to keep up with everything that’s going on.

Quality of Life Is Becoming More Important

For many cancer patients, quality of life becomes far more important than finding more time through treatment. Hospice care focuses primarily on quality of life, making it an excellent choice when your elderly family member is ready to leave curative treatments behind. She’s able to focus on spending the rest of the time that she has left as comfortably as possible, surrounded by the people that she cares about the most.

Every person’s battle with cancer is different, and the decisions and timing of those decisions are also going to be different. Having her options spelled out for her is going to help make those decisions much easier for your elderly family member, so it’s important to talk about the benefits of hospice and other types of care with your senior’s medical providers.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Hospice Care in Gainesville, TX please contact the caring staff at Arcy Healthcare today. 469-293-1515

Jimmie Stapleton

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