From Blessing Health: Sue Hamner White passed away on July 28, 2022, after a two-and-a-half-year battle with lung cancer. Her death came just a few days before the story below about her was set to be posted to Blessing Health social media.
Since then, Sue’s daughter - Blessing Health cardiology nurse practitioner Shanna Dierker – decided she wanted her mother’s story to be posted for all to read for two reasons.
“She was proud of her story. She wanted people to see that cancer did not limit her quality of life. She was still doing the things that she loved very much,” Shanna said.
Shanna also wants to help raise people’s awareness of palliative care, a healthcare service Sue received.
“When people think ‘palliative care’ they think, ‘It’s shortening my life.’ Not in my mother’s case. Without palliative care she would not have lived as long as she did,” Shanna continued.
“I wish people would be open to palliative care sooner, so they could preserve their quality of life, as my mom was able to do,” Shanna concluded.
Following is the story of how Sue Hamner White dealt with a surprising and devastating diagnosis with courage, grace and a fighting spirit.
How a lung cancer patient found the strength of go forward
Sue Hamner White lives with terminal lung cancer. The key word in that sentence is “lives.”
“When I first started this, I couldn’t do anything,” Sue said. “Now look at me roll.”
When diagnosed with a seven-inch tumor in one of her lungs in 2020, Sue was not sure she wanted treatment. She considered letting nature take its course with her illness.
At the urging of her daughter, a Blessing nurse practitioner, Sue talked with Blessing Cancer Center providers and decided to receive treatment. She says thanks to that care - and an amazing level of support and compassion from her Blessing caregivers, family and friends – her tumor shrank.
Members of the Blessing Palliative Care team have also been instrumental in improving Sue’s condition.
“I didn’t even know what it meant,” she said of palliative care when her oncologist, Dr. Mohammed Memon, suggested it. “He felt I could benefit from it not only physically, but mentally. He was right.”
What is palliative care (and what is it not)?
Palliative care helps address the medical, social and spiritual complications that can come with life-limiting, chronic diseases - including but not limited to cancer; diabetes; and heart and lung (COPD, CHF), kidney (CKD, ESRD) and neurological diseases (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, dementia).
Palliative care is not hospice care. Hospice patients are terminally ill, with a diagnosis of six months or less to live, and have chosen to stop curative treatment in favor of only comfort care.
“Palliative care patients are not terminally ill at this point in their lives and can still have treatments for their disease if they choose,” said Penny Hyer, Blessing palliative care RN coordinator.
Palliative care helps a patient achieve a higher quality in all aspects of their life. The Blessing Palliative Care team includes a doctor, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, social workers and a chaplain. Team members work in partnership with all other caregivers on whom the patient relies.
Palliative care can be delivered in a patient’s home, a nursing home, or in the hospital. One of the benefits palliative care can deliver to people is the need for fewer visits to hospital due to effective management of their disease complications.
Meet the Palliative Care team members
In her 30-year nursing career, Brenda Blickhan, APRN-AGPCNP, palliative care nurse practitioner, says she has seen many chronically ill patients have to make difficult life decisions without the support they need.
“Palliative care is about helping people find their voice and get what they want out of life,” she said.
“For most people with whom we work, their diagnosis has limited them from doing things they once enjoyed doing,” said Angela Koenig, LCSW, palliative care social worker. “There is a coping and adapting process that goes with that. We help them with that process.”
Which palliative care team members work with the patient, and the frequency with which they see the patient, depends on each patient’s needs.
“One of my first questions when I meet a patient is ‘What are your goals?’ said Maggie Altheide, LCSW, palliative care social worker. “It’s easy for us to make goals for the patient. But maybe our goals are not the goals the patient feels are important.”
Sometimes to reach their goals, patients must first deal with unresolved issues in their lives. That is where palliative care spiritual services can help.
“You can see the relief in their eyes,” said Jerry Edison, palliative care team chaplain. “Through spiritual care a patient can address the stress and anxiety that comes with unresolved issues, leaving them better able to focus on their health goals.”
Team helps Sue live the life she wants
While Sue’s disease will rob her of quantity of life eventually, palliative care has helped sharpen her focus on quality of life.
“Throughout Sue’s journey we have helped treat her symptoms including shortness of breath, nausea, anxiety and lack of appetite,” said Kristi Gillette, DO, medical director of Blessing Health’s palliative care and hospice programs. “Sue has remained relatively healthy throughout her treatment and is living a very active and fruitful life.”
As a result of the care she received, Sue has the strength and the drive to do the things she loves, including tending her vegetable garden and kayaking on the lake behind her home.
“I feel so much better physically and mentally through their support,” Sue said of the Blessing Palliative Care team. “With their encouragement and training to understand my illness, I am in such a different place. Being more aware of things makes you less scared and gives you the strength to go forward.”
For more information on Blessing’s palliative care services, click here.
For more information on the services of the Blessing Cancer Center, click here.