PHS Home Care for Patients With Cancer

Pediatric home care is what we do. For more than two decades, PHS has provided compassionate, comprehensive, specialized, high quality in-home care to pediatric patients, no matter what their medical challenges.

A multidisciplinary PHS team, experienced in working with pediatric patients with cancer, works together with a patient’s physician, health care team, and entire family to provide family-centered care along with needed services.

Because there are many types of cancer, and the treatment and care is individualized, a child’s physician works with family caregivers to explain the options and appropriate treatment plans. Often, treatment for cancer is continued after discharge from the hospital on a home care basis.

Some medications for cancer require frequent monitoring of lab values. PHS pediatric infusion nurses are available to obtain these labs in the child’s own home.
PHS infusion nurses, home care nurses and pharmacists provide medications and, as necessary, IV hydration ordered by the patient’s physician.
PHS dietitians provide individualized nutritional counseling for children needing extra help with nutrition.
PHS home care nurses provide scheduled visits or round-the-clock care.
The PHS medical director attends team care rounds and presents medical updates and new treatment modalities in caring for patients with childhood cancer.
A clinical social worker provides individual therapy and support in locating additional information, programs, services and community resources specific to the patient’s diagnosis.
PHS provides medical equipment and supplies needed by a patient with childhood cancer.
PHS provides 24/7 on-call assistance to families receiving our service.

Meet PHS patient Lexi

About cancer

The body’s basic unit of life is the cell. Normally, cells grow in an orderly manner to keep the body healthy. Sometimes this process goes wrong; disruptions in the cells affect normal growth and division. In this situation, the life span of the cells is not what it should be. Some cells do not die when they should, and even though the body may not need them, new cells form. These cells may form a mass of tissue called a tumor. Some tumors are benign (not cancerous) and other tumors are malignant (cancerous).

Malignant tumors can spread to other tissue and even spread throughout the body. This spread of the tumor throughout the body is called metastasis. Not all cancers form tumors; leukemia, for example, is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood.

Cancer cells grow and require more of the body’s nutrition to thrive, causing poor nutritional status, decreased strength, and destruction of organs and bones. The body’s ability to fight other infections and diseases may be weakened.