Read Time: 5 minutes
In 2018, Ruth Hill got out of bed one morning and felt her spine literally break. The 53-year-old collapsed to the floor.
鈥淚 knew something catastrophic had happened,鈥 Ruth says. She soon learned six of her vertebrae had cracked and two had exploded. The doctor at the hospital in Colorado Springs, where Ruth had been visiting her son and grandchildren, gave her even more devastating news.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e filled with cancer. It鈥檚 incurable,鈥 he told her. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to take you upstairs and check your brain. If it鈥檚 in your brain, you won鈥檛 have long to live.鈥
Diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, Ruth stayed in the Colorado hospital for 10 days until she traveled by to Huntsman Cancer Institute at the (the U). She remembers laying in her bed feeling hopeless. Then a man with glasses came into the room. He sat down by her bed and took her hand.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to let you die,鈥 said Douglas Sborov, MD, MS, director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and an associate professor in the Division of Hematology at the U. This physician鈥檚 words turned on a light inside her.
鈥淚 said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 do what we need to do,鈥欌 Ruth recalls.
Treatment for her cancer began, and palliative care started a few weeks later. Care providers asked Ruth a lot of questions: about her pain, what she liked and didn鈥檛 like doing, plus鈥攎ost importantly鈥攈ow she wanted to live.
鈥淚t makes you go from being a patient to being a human,鈥 Ruth says.
Palliative care is intended to give someone a sense of control, explained Holli Martinez, FNP-BC, advanced practice clinician director of the Supportive and Palliative Care Program at University of Utah Hospital.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a group of specialty-trained clinicians working as a team,鈥 Martinez says. 鈥淲e focus on improving quality of life, easing symptoms, helping navigate medical treatment now and in the future, and strengthening coping for the patient and their family.鈥
Hospice Care vs. Palliative Care
When hospice care is appropriate for a patient, they are likely to pass away within six months due to their advanced illness. They鈥檝e also made the decision to receive comfort-oriented medical care where they live, which may be their private residence, a long-term care facility, or an assisted living facility.
Read more about the difference between palliative care and hospice care for people with cancer.
It doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean the patient鈥攚hether they鈥檙e a child or an adult鈥攊s going to pass away anytime soon. In fact, many people who receive palliative care often live many years with their serious illness.
鈥淚t enables the patient and the people who matter to them to live well鈥攅ven patients where cure is possible,鈥 Martinez says.
Ruth鈥檚 first goal was to get off all her pain medications as soon as possible. Palliative care providers worked with her to find strategies to do that and new ways such as acupuncture to help decrease her nausea.
Her palliative care team asked if she might consider mental health therapy. At first, Ruth dismissed the idea. But then she reconsidered鈥攁 decision she鈥檚 grateful for to this day.
A year and a half after Ruth鈥檚 diagnosis, her husband of 34 years, Lance, unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm. Her first call the next morning was to Jennifer Mijangos, LCSW, a social worker at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
鈥淚 realized she had been teaching me about how to grieve cancer鈥攂ut she was also teaching me how to grieve,鈥 Ruth says. 鈥淲hen Lance died, I already had the steps.鈥
Most palliative care begins while someone like Ruth is still in the hospital. The care can follow the patient from the emergency room to the intensive care unit to rehabilitation. When the patient returns home, palliative care is either virtual or takes place in a clinic. It may ultimately also include spiritual care, wellness and integrative health, advance care planning, and more.
鈥淚t affects the whole family when someone you love is going through a serious illness,鈥 Martinez says. 鈥淢any family members say, 鈥業鈥檓 so glad we had this conversation, because I wouldn鈥檛 have known my mom鈥檚 wishes.鈥欌
Ruth鈥檚 team helped her sketch out her own funeral plans. 鈥淚 became so empowered by that,鈥 she says.
In the summer of 2024, Ruth received her 254th chemotherapy treatment. She continues to work full-time and recently got remarried.
But for a while, she was scared to travel too far away from Huntsman Cancer Institute. What if the cancer flared again?
She credits Meredith Bannon, PA-C, the physician assistant on her palliative care team, for giving her the courage to travel again. They worked together to create an emergency bag with pain pills and anxiety medications in case something went wrong on the trip. Ruth plans on traveling to Budapest鈥攁nd bringing her emergency bag with her.
鈥淪he gave me this strategy to live my life not being fearful,鈥 Ruth says. 鈥淚 may have cancer, but I鈥檓 a mom. I鈥檓 a grandma. I鈥檓 a partner. I鈥檓 a new wife.鈥
If someone were to ask whether they should consider palliative care, Ruth has a simple response: 鈥淲hy not? Use every tool available and find out what works for your journey.鈥
Growth of Palliative Care
Over the last few decades, palliative care has grown exponentially both in Utah and across the nation鈥攊n large part because advances in medicine are keeping people with serious illness alive longer. The palliative care team at the U, which began in 2005 with two nurse practitioners and a part-time physician, now counts 28 full- and part-time providers, including hospice, palliative medicine, and advanced practice clinician fellows.
Learn more about palliative care at Huntsman Cancer Institute.