You, your family, and your doctor generally will recognize this point. Whenever possible, you should plan the transition to palliative care in advance. During these meetings you can discuss likely outcomes, medical issues, and any fears or uncertainties you may have. Palliative care consists of home care, hospital care when you cannot be cared for at home, and treatment for shortness of breath and pain. Breathlessness will be treated with oxygen and medications such as opioids, narcotic drugs including opium, morphine, codeine, methadone, and heroin.
Pain management includes anti-inflammatory medications and opioids.
You will be encouraged to participate in determining doses of the pain medication, because how much you need to block pain will vary from day to day. Doctors will treat other symptoms such as anxiety, lack of sleep, and depression with appropriate medications as well. The chest x-ray shows a shadow in the left lung, which was later diagnosed as lung cancer. A CT scan of the lung shows a mass lesion in the right lung, which turned out to be lung cancer on needle biopsy. Operable lung cancer.