End Of Life Research Paper

End of Life

Health Science 3, Period 2

Jake Mouton

Aggressive Treatment or Palliative Care?

The 5-year survival rate is about 15% to 20%. The 10-year survival is about 10% to 15%. The outlook is better if the spread is only to distant parts of the skin or distant lymph nodes rather than to other organs, and if the blood level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is normal.

Ipilimumab is a new drug used to prolong the life of patients with stage 4 melanoma. This can cause very severe side effects. It has never been shown to cure melanoma. "A small portion of melanomas have changes in the C-KIT gene. These melanomas might be helped by targeted drugs such as imatinib (Gleevec) and nilotinib (Tasigna), although, again, these drugs are not known to cure these melanomas."(Cancer,

2014). High doses of immunotherapy can help treat the effects of melanoma. The high doses tend to have better results, but with higher dosage comes more severe side effects. Chemotherapy is also a very popular treatment with patients with melanoma. Chemotherapy has pretty severe side effects such as hair loss and weakened immune system but it can kill the cancer. Most of the time it does not kill all the cancer.
Sometimes melanoma that has spread causes symptoms, such as bone pain, that radiation therapy can help relieve. This is called palliative radiation therapy. For some patients, palliative radiation therapy is given to an entire organ with several small doses of radiation, such as to the entire brain using whole-brain radiation therapy. Other times, one or just a few high doses of radiation therapy are given using a linear accelerator.
I would enter into palliative care because it can help relieve the symptoms of melanoma. I would prefer this option because it seems to be more effective than treatment. Other treatments seem to have very severe side effects. My brother has cancer in his leg and he got radiation to help and it was very effective with helping him deal with the cancer. This is why I choose palliative radiation care.

Bucket List
1. Meet Kobe Bryant.
2. Eat every type of food on the menu on every restaurant I can think of.
3. Go to every state in the country and every continent in the world.
4. Be in a movie.
5. Invent something.
6. Fly first class.
7. Go to Disney World.
Advance Health Care Directive
Turned in and graded.
Cremation or Burial?
Cremation is the process of burning the body to ashes. Some costs associated with it are things such as an urn, and death certificate. There are two options when being buried. Above ground and above ground burial are the options. The costs associated with burial are the casket, grave, death certificate, funeral ceremony, and guest book. I want to be buried. I would want a traditional burial.
Burial Cremation

Item Cost Item Cost
Casket $1,455.00 Urn $145.00
Transportation $300.00 Death Certificate $13.00
Grave $7,375.00 Guest Book $25.00
Flowers $360.00 Church Package $4,375.00
Death Certificate $13.00 Transportation $300.00
Funeral Ceremony Fees $500.00
Guest Book $25.00
Wardrobe $150.00
Pillow $15.00

Total $10,193.00 Total $4,858.00

Final Arrangements
Worksheet was turned in and graded.
Memorial Service Etiquette
When you come to a memorial service or funeral you should come in quietly and not sit in the front because those are usually for family members and close friends. Men should wear black suits or dark navy colors. They should also wear a shirt and tie. Women should wear a dress or skirt with nice shoes. Black is the main color for funerals. You do not want to draw attention to yourself when at a funeral.
My family doesn’t have any traditions for memorial services. At my memorial service I would just want to be honored and buried. I wouldn’t want a very extravagant funeral because that’s not right to me.
Obituary
Jake Joseph Mouton
July 5, 1998 – October 31, 2014
Jake Joseph Mouton 16 passed away on October 31, 2014 in California. Memorial services will be performed at Santa Cruz cemetery on November 5, 2014 at 12:25 pm.

Eulogy
I want to thank everybody who came today.

In all my time on earth I was very thankful to my friends and family. I have valued all my friends throughout the years. School has changed me, and made me realize that you don’t need many friends as long as they are good ones. We had a lot of good times and I will miss them dearly. To my family, I love you all. You guys always looked out for me and helped me during hard times while I was growing up. Thank you.

Summary

Summary

Completing this end of life project has greatly helped me prepare for inevitable; death. It helped me figure out the costs for a burial and cremation. It also helped me understand what a eulogy and obituary are. Planning your own funeral helps you be an empathetic, compassionate, person in the medical field because it helps me better understand what happens after you die and it also help make death seem very real. Death can happen at any time and I need to be prepared. If you are working in the medical field with a dying patient, you need to put yourself in their shoes to fully understand their situation and how to better help them prepare for death. If you do not do this you will not be good medical field

employee.

References
American Cancer Society. (2014).What are the survival rates for melanoma skin cancer by stage? Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancer-melanoma/detailedguide/melanoma-skin-cancer-survival-rates
California Department Of Parks and Recreations. (2014). Information on the Scattering of Cremated Human Remains in State Parks. Retrieved from http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/Information%20on%20Scattering%20Remains%20in%20the%20park.htm
Cremation Resource. N.d. What is the cost of human cremation? Retrieved from http://www.cremationresource.org/cremation/what-is-the-cost-of-human-cremation.html.
Funeral Planning 101. (2014). Buying a Grave Plot. Retrieved from http://www.funeralplanning101.com/burial-interment/buying-grave-plot.aspx.