ESTANCIA
There are times when a cancer patient is diagnosed and/or treated too late in the cycle or may have received no treatment at all. Those patients enter an end of life situation and are sent home to die. Unless a patient is in a medically supervised facility, pain management medications and such are not available.
End of life patients generally remain in a home situation. The homes are generally not sterile, lack any form of medical assistance and the caregiver, normally a family member, is untrained in giving the patient the necessary attention. The situation of a dying family member in the family home is very stressful on all members of the family, including the patient.
Our clinic staff, on many occasions, visits the homes of end of life patients to help with wound treatment, area cleanliness and to offer instruction on proper caregiving and offer grief counseling.
Because of a grant from Rotary International with additional Club and individual support, we have been able to build a hospice like Estancia. Having temporary housing units associated with the cancer detection and education center qualifies the Estancia as a medically supervised “facility”. This allows pain management to be legally available to the patient and the local anesthesiologist MD is assisting in the program.
Estancia units are sanitary and equipped with the proper medical assist fixtures and equipment and a medical staff is available. Proper caregiving supervision and counseling is available. The Estancia rooms provide a location where a cancer patient can finish their lives with dignity.
