 I got diagnosed with cancer, 2016. I had lymphoma, leukemia, and my levels just kept on going up and up and up. The staff at my hospital introduced me to palliative care and I had no idea what it was. I am living with MS and I heard of palliative care through a friend. Palliative care is there to serve patients to help them to feel the best they can to help them to return to their lives to live as normally as possible. We're able to see patients in the hospital setting in Hackensack Meridian skilled nursing facilities as well as a home-based palliative care program in Ocean and Monmouth counties. When Katie comes, she would take my blood pressure and make sure I'm taking the right medicine. She would fight for me. I never had anybody fight for me. I never knew that existed. So I think it's really important to point out that palliative care and hospice care are not the same thing. Palliative care is provided from the moment a patient is diagnosed with a serious illness and it really should be provided alongside the patient's other curative therapies. Hospice care is meant for the last six months of life when a patient has decided that the focus of their care will be comfort rather than cure. Patients do not have to give up anything to be able to receive palliative care. We are specialists that can be a part of someone's care alongside their other physicians and care teams. And we really strive to coordinate with those other care teams to keep patients at the center of everything. Palliative care has really given me hope and motivation to be the best I can be. When it's offered to you, take it. They're there to be your friend. They're there to give you a hug. They're really good people to have in your corner.