The Value and Importance of Not Postponing Joy

Educating your advanced cancer patients about the value and importance of not postponing joy.

There is a tendency to avoid discussing the future, too far in advance, with your patients with advanced disease. The sooner we bring up the topic of not postponing joy, the better however. Patients may even say that they are planning on a family vacation to Disney World in 2 years. Your thoughts immediately go to estimating when she will be likely too ill to go but may not be verbalizing this to her. You don’t want to take away hope and burst that bubble. It however isn’t fair to the patient to be assuming that no response from you regarding such an announcement, or worse, saying that this sounds great, is doing her an injustice. Additionally, though she may still be living in two years and technically able to go to Disney World, she may very well be spending her time in the hotel room and not enjoying herself and her children/grandchildren doing park activities. Her goal wasn’t to be in a bed too weak to partake of this important family adventure. This is why a discussion about “Don’t Postpone Joy” is so important. It fits for many clinical settings too.

What you will learn from this module:

1. How to engage in a discussion with the patient and their family about planning for the future, including joyous moments.
2. Why it is important to be honest with patients about their condition and what to expect in their future.
3. Why recommending to patients to not postpone joys will provide them a better opportunity of enjoying these activities.
4. Life is unpredictable. Her cancer could become more aggressive or get into better control. This is unknown for now. Encouraging her to do these milestone activities now, while still well enough, will ensure everyone participating will have wonderful memories.
5. If joy is postponed and the patient is too ill to partake in this family trip, the outcome is one of regret.