Founded in 1977, Hospice of the Valley is a nonprofit organization geared towards providing palliative care for the elderly. Currently, Hospice of the Valley is the largest non profit organization in the United States, helping approximately 2,500 patients a day and 13,200 patients a year. The hospice receives its revenue from Medicare, donations, insurance companies, and from private pay patients (“Hospice Concept of Care” 11). To be an eligible patient for Hospice of the Valley, the individual must have a diagnosis of six months or less to live, as confirmed by a physician; patients with terminal illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), dementia, and Alzheimer 's are eligible to be placed into
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As one of the most important organs in the body, the liver performs a wide variety of complex functions such as “filtering blood supply, produces bile, detoxifying harmful substances and delivering it through the biliary tract to the intestines for elimination with other waste” (Smith). As a result of nearly a quarter of the body 's blood being filtered through the liver, cancer cells can metastasize from tumors located elsewhere on the body. This means that more than any other organ in the body the liver is the most vulnerable target of cancer cells that have spread from their original site. Ranking fifth in the world in terms of cancer frequency, liver cancer is one of the most common cancers in humans; an estimated 626,000 patients are diagnosed with the disease each year and the numbers are continuously rising (Buendia). Currently, two types of liver cancer exist: primary and metastatic. Primary liver cancer consists of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), cancer that starts in the liver tissue, and cholangiocarcinoma, cancer that develops in the bile ducts of the liver. Metastatic liver cancer is caused by metastasis from cancer cells in other organs and tissues that spread to the liver through blood filtering. Although the exact cause of liver cancer is still unknown, factors that can contribute to the disease are gender, age, environmental exposure to carcinogens, …show more content…
Once these symptoms begin to appear, this means that the cancer has advanced in the later stages. Technology such as the ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are able to detect and screen to see if an individual has a tumor in their liver. Although these imaging systems assist physicians in locating tumors, a biopsy of the liver is able to confirm the diagnosis (Adamec). Once the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment for the cancer can begin. However, treatment for liver cancer is difficult because the cancer is not easily detected until the later stages, thus the diagnosis is seldom early. Even though most diagnoses are not made until the late stages, liver cancer can still be treated through surgery, transplantation, tumor ablation, and chemotherapy. If the cancerous area in the liver is located in only one lobe then it can be surgically removed, but if the whole liver is cancerous, then the entire liver would be removed and replaced with a non-diseased one from a donor. Furthermore, like all cancers, the main method of treating liver cancer is chemotherapy, where the drugs are entered intravenously; common drugs used for chemotherapy in liver cancer are sorafenib and doxorubicin. Another method of treatment is called tumor ablation, where the malignant cells would be deprived of nutrients; this would lead to
As one of the most important organs in the body, the liver performs a wide variety of complex functions such as “filtering blood supply, produces bile, detoxifying harmful substances and delivering it through the biliary tract to the intestines for elimination with other waste” (Smith). As a result of nearly a quarter of the body 's blood being filtered through the liver, cancer cells can metastasize from tumors located elsewhere on the body. This means that more than any other organ in the body the liver is the most vulnerable target of cancer cells that have spread from their original site. Ranking fifth in the world in terms of cancer frequency, liver cancer is one of the most common cancers in humans; an estimated 626,000 patients are diagnosed with the disease each year and the numbers are continuously rising (Buendia). Currently, two types of liver cancer exist: primary and metastatic. Primary liver cancer consists of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC), cancer that starts in the liver tissue, and cholangiocarcinoma, cancer that develops in the bile ducts of the liver. Metastatic liver cancer is caused by metastasis from cancer cells in other organs and tissues that spread to the liver through blood filtering. Although the exact cause of liver cancer is still unknown, factors that can contribute to the disease are gender, age, environmental exposure to carcinogens, …show more content…
Once these symptoms begin to appear, this means that the cancer has advanced in the later stages. Technology such as the ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are able to detect and screen to see if an individual has a tumor in their liver. Although these imaging systems assist physicians in locating tumors, a biopsy of the liver is able to confirm the diagnosis (Adamec). Once the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment for the cancer can begin. However, treatment for liver cancer is difficult because the cancer is not easily detected until the later stages, thus the diagnosis is seldom early. Even though most diagnoses are not made until the late stages, liver cancer can still be treated through surgery, transplantation, tumor ablation, and chemotherapy. If the cancerous area in the liver is located in only one lobe then it can be surgically removed, but if the whole liver is cancerous, then the entire liver would be removed and replaced with a non-diseased one from a donor. Furthermore, like all cancers, the main method of treating liver cancer is chemotherapy, where the drugs are entered intravenously; common drugs used for chemotherapy in liver cancer are sorafenib and doxorubicin. Another method of treatment is called tumor ablation, where the malignant cells would be deprived of nutrients; this would lead to