(West Islip, NY) November is National Palliative Care Awareness Month. It is a time for raising awareness about the comfort and dignity that palliative care provides to patients and families coping with serious and life-limiting illnesses. With the help of palliative care, patients and families alike can focus on what’s most important – enjoying life together and living as fully as possible. Good Samaritan Hospital offers palliative care which provides comfort and support at any stage of a serious illness, from diagnosis on.
Maryanne Delgado, seated 3rd from left, with her extended family.
Seventy-one year old Sayville resident Maryanne Delgado wanted to have the best possible quality of life while enjoying her large family of eleven children, grandchildren and husband of more than 50 years. That is why after being hospitalized for a blockage after a diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2004 following surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, she met with the palliative care team.
“My family is amazed at how normal and full my life has been since my diagnosis,” said Ms. Delgado. “I do what I feel I can and enjoy my life.”
Good Samaritan’s Palliative Care Program offers a specially trained, board certified staff to support patients and their families physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is medical care focused on the relief of pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and helps through all stages of an illness. The team believes that knowledge is powerful in enhancing one’s outlook for maintaining quality and dignity in their life’s journey.
For more information about the palliative care program at Good Samaritan, please call (631) 376-4444.
Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center is a 537-bed (including 100 nursing home beds), voluntary, not-for-profit hospital located in West Islip. The medical center, which has more than 3,775 employees and 900 physicians on staff, had nearly 28,000 patient admissions and nearly 100,000 emergency department visits in 2012. Good Samaritan is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. Visit the website at www.good-samaritan-hospital.org.
The medical center supplies residents with the tools necessary to maintain good health. This includes community lectures, screenings, health fairs and other community programs and services.
