“I thought, oh no, that’s the end,” said Keane. “I don’t want that yet. But they explained to me, it’ll be better, you’ll get all kinds of” help, she recalled.

“Her quality of life is improved and her duration of life may actually be extended by going with hospice,” said Dr. Sweigert.

After hearing about how hospice could help her, “I thought it’d be great,” said Keane.

“Any help I could get” was greatly appreciated, said Jane Swigert.

“It’s a big deal for her to go anywhere,” said Jane. Her mother uses an oxygen tank and has limited mobility, which means it’s not easy to leave the house, especially for doctor appointments. “She would be so out of breath.” Her mother wasn’t sleeping well at night either.

“Collabria Care is wonderful because they can go right into the home” and essentially become the eyes and ears for a primary care physician during hospice care, said Dr. Sweigert.

“People think hospice (means) end of life,” said Sweigert. “Most don’t realize that sometimes by going on hospice and focusing on symptom management you can avoid some complications and that can actually extend” and improve a patient’s quality of life.