Our Exit Strategy: Denying Death its Strangeness (102)

362 Vol. 45 No. 2 February 2013Schedule With Abstracts

caregivers, and even fewer have policies outlin-ing how to care for those with identified prob-lems. Given the enormous public healthimplications of the increasing rates of substanceabuse and diversion in this country, it is likelythat if the palliative care and hospice communitydoes not address this issue, draconian regula-tions may provide an impediment to the appro-priate treatment of pain and other symptomsin patients with life-limiting illnesses. This con-current session will provide an overview of thescope of and importance of screening for sub-stance abuse in palliative medicine; discuss ourdata surrounding the prevalence of opioid mis-use and diversion in our palliative clinic; discussthe management of patients at risk for substanceabuse, including our institutional examples; anddiscuss the development of a statewide programto address these issues in Virginia.

Interdisciplinary Cases (TH342)

Friday, March 15

8:30e10 am

Plenary Session

Our Exit Strategy: Denying Death itsStrangeness (102)David Oliver, PhD, University of Missouri Schoolof Medicine, Columbia, MO. Debra Parker Oli-ver, PhD MSW, University of Missouri School ofMedicine, Columbia, MO.(All authors listed above had no relevant finan-cial relationships to disclose.)

Objectives1. Discuss the journey of a terminally ill patient

and his or her caregiver.2. Indentify the role of palliative care profes-

sionals in helping the pateint and caregiverin their journeys.

3. Describe the role social media has had inhelping this family define their goals of care.

Following the diagnosis of David’s stage IV naso-pharyngeal carcinoma with widespread metasta-sis to bone, he and his wife, Debbie Oliver,decided to go public about the disease. Theirgoal is to create a public dialogue about

experiences related to a cancer diagnosis, treat-ment, palliative and hospice care, and eventuallydeath and bereavement. Utilizing social mediato produce and disseminate teaching videos,the Olivers have taken the world into theirhome to witness what amounts to a dramaticjourney. They will share difficult decisions andwhat it is like to go from gerontologist to patientand researcher to caregiver. Experiences in thesenew roles are revealed in a video-blog, updatedmonthly (go to: http://dbocancerjourney.blogspot.com); responses from cancer patients,families, and professionals from 74 countriesaround the world to both the video-blog andan appearance on ‘‘CBS this Morning with Char-lie Rose’’ have been overwhelming, with 44,000hits in the first 11 months alone. In addition torequired coping behaviors and adjustments, Da-vid will describe goals for the end of his life, andDebbie will share the courage needed by care-givers to face the death of a loved one. Togetherthey will discuss what they need from palliativecare, what this journey has meant to them per-sonally, and how going public has created impor-tant teachable moments. There have been manylessons learned to date and more to come. AsDavid recently said, ‘‘This cancer is much biggerthan my story; we have a responsibility to sharewhat we have learned about this cunning, baf-fling disease.’’

10:45e11:45 am

Concurrent Sessions

Rehabilitating the Palliative Care Patient:Why Bother? (FR400)Jeanette Ross, MD, University of Texas HealthScience Center at San Antonio, San Antonio,TX. Sandra Sanchez Reilly, MD FAAHPM, Uni-versity of Texas Health Science Center at San An-tonio, San Antonio, TX. Tyson Meyer, MD,Hospice of South Texas, Victoria, TX. CynthiaRiley, MD OTR, University of Texas Health Sci-ence Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX.Deborah Villarreal, MD, University of TexasHealth Science Center at San Antonio, San An-tonio, TX.(All authors listed above had no relevant finan-cial relationships to disclose.)