Myelofibrosis, a rare type of bone marrow cancer, causes issues with blood cell production and leads to serious anemia that can cause weakness and fatigue. Whether you have intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, supportive care can help you manage the symptoms and stress that come with it. When you get palliative care early, it can make a big difference in quality of life and easing of symptoms and can even help you live longer.

Palliative care is designed to work alongside other medical treatment to help lessen any pain or symptoms from myelofibrosis. You usually get this kind of care from a team of doctors, nurses, and other professionals whose goal is to help you feel better and live longer. You can get supportive care while having treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

Your palliative care team works closely with you to ease your myelofibrosis symptoms, such as fatigue from anemia, pain, or stress. They may either treat you directly or teach you ways to deal with specific symptoms on a daily basis. If you need further support, they also might connect you with a specialist.

The more you know about myelofibrosis, the better care decisions you can make for yourself. Since there's a lot of information to digest, you can lean on a supportive care team to help you understand the disease better. They'll help explain its long-term impacts and walk you through kinds of treatment. Once you've decided on a path forward, that team can then share your care preferences and goals with your other doctors.

Coping with myelofibrosis can have a huge impact on the mental well-being of both you and your caregivers. Palliative care can help ease that strain by building a support network for you and those helping with your care. This includes connecting you with support groups, community groups, and family counseling choices. Palliative specialists can also talk to family and friends about ways they can support you.

Palliative care can help support you with any financial challenges that come with your myelofibrosis treatment too. This may include education on the resources you can use to pay for care. Your supportive care team can also refer you to a financial adviser to help you with financial planning.

It's normal for any serious diagnosis, including myelofibrosis, to create new and intense stress or worry. If that stress affects your ability to go about your day normally, it's impacting your quality of life. Through a kind of supportive care sometimes called palliative psychiatry, you can get mental health support. This can include tests for anxiety and depression, as well as therapy.

A myelofibrosis diagnosis can not only put stress on your mental health, but it can also cause spiritual distress. You may be asking deep inner questions, or you might be struggling to find meaning and purpose in life. The good news is there are types of palliative care that include spiritual help. This part of supportive care could include visiting with a chaplain, religious leader, or other spiritual advisers on a regular basis.

Supportive care can help with your immediate treatment wishes and goals, as well as future planning if you have high-risk myelofibrosis. Palliative care specialists can help talk you through complex topics, such as creating a living will, advance directive, and legal resources like health care power of attorney documents.

Supportive care can be right for any stage of the myelofibrosis treatment journey, not just end-of-life. If you're dealing with pain or other symptoms – or any side effects of treatment – consider palliative care. Because many people with myelofibrosis don't have symptoms in the early stage, you may not need this type of care until later. Some signs of later-stage myelofibrosis include bone pain, fatigue, and pain below your left ribs.

If you're ready to explore supportive care choices, you'll first need a referral from your doctor. You can get palliative care at a hospital, outpatient center, palliative care unit or hospice, aged care facility, and sometimes at home.