Home Health Care: Breast Cancer Awareness Month Is a Good Time to Address Care Plans During Breast Cancer Treatments
Home Health Care: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Did you know that approximately 330,800 breast cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in women by 2021? The older you are, the higher the risk of a positive diagnosis. Your family learned that when your mom was diagnosed. Right now, you’re all shocked. Your mom is scared. Those are understandable reactions, and it’s an excellent time to sit down together to discuss her home health care needs. These are the topics you need to discuss.
Home Health Care in Southport IN: Breast Cancer Awareness Month
What Are the Treatment Options?
Find out what the doctor says when it comes to the treatment plan. Surgery is often the first step, and radiation therapy comes next. If cancer has spread, the treatments may take more time or become more involved.
Your mom may need hormone therapy, anti-HER2 drugs, and chemotherapy, too. It can take five years to complete hormone therapies. Expect her to be on ER2-targeted medications for a year. There are side effects with these medications and treatments that you have to consider.
For example, anti-HER2 drugs have side effects like diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. Hormone therapy doesn’t often have serious side effects, but some of the medicines used can increase the risks of blood clots, bone density problems, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, and stroke.
What Care is Needed at Home?
After surgery, your mom will need support. She may not be allowed to lift heavier items for several weeks. You can help her with that, but you may not be comfortable with bandage changes and wound care. A home health care nurse can provide wound care services.
If your mom needs any medications via an IV or injection, you can’t do them, but a nurse can. A nurse can also tell if your mom is experiencing dangerous complications from medications and alert her doctor.
Nurses can take daily vital signs and administer IV fluids and nutrients if nausea and vomiting make it impossible for your mom to keep food down. She may want to work with a dietitian in her home to figure out the best meals to eat while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.
Once you know your mom’s cancer treatment plan, talk to a home health care agency. The more support she has, the easier her treatments and recovery will be. Call and ask to speak to a specialist in home health care to get prices and care options.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Home Health Care in Southport, IN, please call the caring staff at Home Services Unlimited. Serving Greater Indianapolis Area. Call for Immediate Info & Assistance: (317) 471-0760
Sources:
https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics
As a practicing Registered Nurse, Etelka was keenly aware of a void in quality patient care that could be provided in the home. She embarked upon a journey to develop a home health care agency that would exceed all expectations and become a trusted partner to physicians and patients.
A Distinguished Career From Nurse to Director of Nursing to President of Home Services Unlimited
Etelka’s distinguished career followed a logical progression to her position as President of Home Services Unlimited. She graduated as a nurse practitioner with a Bachelor of Nursing (RN) in 1972 from Meshgorya University in the Ukraine, close to where she lived with her family. She married her husband Phil in 1973 and decided in 1977 that they would relocate to the United States to be closer to family and to come to this land of opportunity. With an eagerness to continue her budding career, Etelka sat for and passed her Boards in the U.S. in 1979.
A Love and Talent for Working with the Elderly
Etelka began her nursing career in the U.S. at Colonial Crest, now part of Golden Living, where she was the In-service Coordinator, the Director of Training and Education and Director of Nursing, a position she occupied for several years.
With a group of partners, she co-founded Adept Corporation, which operated group homes for the mentally challenged. The business was successful and in 1996, Etelka sold her share to return to her roots, caring for the elderly.
In January of 1997, Etelka opened Home Services Unlimited as a fully licensed business to provide home health care. In her quest to learn to do better for her patients, she had already obtained a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) in May of 1990 from the College of St. Francis. As President of Home Services Unlimited, Inc., Etelka guides the trusted, experienced care model Home Services Unlimited uses to continue providing excellent home health care.
Giving Back to the Community of Indianapolis
Volunteering for community services is a high priority for Etelka. Her memberships include the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Executive Women in Health Care and the Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care, where she is a member of the Board of Directors.
Etelka has also served on the Board of Directors with Hooverwood Home, a highly regarded geriatric facility, since 1997 and as the President for 2005-2006. Through her community work, she has received several awards and accolades, including the Nora McFarland award in 2002, from the Indiana Association of Home and Hospice Care.
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