Resources for Families

Information to Ease the Burden of Life-Limiting Illness and Caregiving

Living with Symptoms and Conditions

One of the special things about hospice is that we form a team of experts to provide medical, social, emotional, spiritual and logistical care and support to our patients and their families. When you’re one of our patients, we’ll treat you as an individual and develop a plan of care that meets your specific needs.

Your Hospicare Team Can Help

When you sign on as a Hospicare patient, your care team will provide you and your family with information and guidance on how to manage your symptoms. The team will continually assess your situation and your needs and make appropriate recommendations.

While each case is unique, there are some typical symptoms or changes that occur as the body changes. Our team is ready to help you manage these symptoms.

Physical symptoms may include:

Pain
Incontinence
Constipation
Fatigue
Nausea or vomiting
Shortness of breath

Emotional symptoms can include:

Anxiety
Restlessness
Sleeplessness
Grief
Anger

Spiritual changes you may notice can include:

Loss of faith or questioning beliefs
Deeper sense of faith or beliefs

Report any and all symptoms, and changes in symptoms, to your primary nurse when he or she comes to visit.

Should you call Hospicare if something changes?

We are always available to support our patients and their families. When our offices are not open, a registered nurse is available on-call to answer questions, control symptoms and address other concerns or changes as they occur. We encourage you to call with concerns as soon as they arise.

Please contact us immediately if any of the following are going on:

Uncontrolled symptoms (such as pain, nausea, shortness of breath, anxiety)
Changes in status
Falls or other sudden incidents
Sudden changes, questions or concerns

If you feel that there are signs that death is near, visit our page on this topic.