On this week's episode of The Lighthouse Podcast, Chris and Christy have an informative discussion with Dr. Brock, Director of Supportive Care at a local children's hospital in Atlanta. Dr. Brock explains what supportive care is and how the main mission of supportive, or palliative, care is to help kids who have a serious illness like cancer—and their families—live as well as possible. Supportive care is a relatively new field that does not replace your child's oncology team, but rather supports it, building a bigger village for your child's cancer journey. Dr. Brock dispels some of the misconceptions of palliative care and explains how the process works for children and families. She shares the best time to introduce this type of care, the qualifications for receiving supportive care, and how parents can request it if a consult has not been requested by the cancer team. She explains how the support extends to the family and includes interesting examples of palliative care. They conclude the discussion by talking about the challenges of the job, but the beauty that comes from knowing you've been able to help relieve the suffering of children and families—and even make their days better—during their cancer journey.
