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Palliative Care and Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure is a progressive illness, but palliative care can help now with quality of life issues.
Text HEART FAILURE made of cubes and stethoscope on wooden background
Palliative Care Denton, TX: Congestive Heart Failure
Palliative Care Denton, TX: Congestive Heart Failure

After a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, or CHF, a lot of things will change in your senior’s life. She may even start to feel as if her life is over. But there are additional types of care that can help. 

Congestive Heart Failure Is Progressive 

Congestive heart failure doesn’t mean that your senior’s heart is completely not working, but it does mean that her heart isn’t working as well as it should. CHF is also a progressive problem, which means that over time it gets worse. There are a lot of different variables involved in congestive heart failure, and your senior may find that some treatments help. 

Palliative Care Is Definitely an Option 

One of the treatments that she might consider is called palliative care. Palliative care is available at any time after her diagnosis of congestive heart failure. This type of medical care works closely with her own doctors to help her to figure out how to be as comfortable as possible and how to incorporate other techniques that might work in conjunction with her curative treatments. 

Identifying Lifestyle Changes Helps 

Your senior may find that small changes make a big difference in how she feels and what she’s able to do. Losing a few pounds, for instance, helps to take a little bit of load off her heart. Drinking the right amount of fluids and limiting things like smoking, alcohol, and even too much caffeine, can also help her to feel better. 

Managing Symptoms Is Key to Palliative Care with CHF 

Some of the symptoms of congestive heart failure are extremely uncomfortable and can even be scary. Shortness of breath, fatigue, and lack of appetite are all big symptoms. There are more, and when you’re helping your senior to deal with a variety of symptoms, it can get overwhelming fast. Palliative care providers can help your senior to manage those symptoms effectively. 

Exploring Coping Mechanisms and Future Planning Is Also Important 

There are other important ways that palliative care services help your senior to manage CHF. There are times when emotional coping mechanisms are important to have, and your elderly family member may want help with future planning. Putting off future planning because it’s difficult just means that you’re not able to ensure that her wishes are met when the time comes. 

Palliative care can make a huge difference for your senior as she navigates dealing with congestive heart failure. 

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

Jimmie Stapleton

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