Category Archives: Clinical

Palace of Care – Second Languages Part 1

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Photo by Tatiana Rodriguez on Unsplash

The little old Chinese man, looked so pale, he didn’t know what to do with himself. His short-term memory had been impaired for some years but had worsened in recent months as he became more unwell.

We both used our second language to communicate with each other Mandarin. Both speaking with thick accents, but able to understand each other. His supportive daughter had come over from China to look after him and his wife. They had lived in New Zealand for over twenty years.

He had always been terrible at reporting his discomfort. His daughter talked about when he had appendicitis and had not told anyone until he almost died of an intra-abdominal infection after his appendix had burst. His stock answer would be to say, I am fine, but his body language was a give away for his wife and daughter. He didn’t let anyone know that he had painful shingles until he was found writhing in bed, crying because of pain, telling his family that the pain was so bad that he wanted to die.

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Palace of Care – I’ve got a question Doc

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Photo by Artur Łuczka on Unsplash

I need to ask you a question about Dad.

Sure, go for it.

You know that Dad missed my wedding last weekend because he was too unwell?

Yeah.

Well, we had planned to have our honeymoon right after the wedding. We’re supposed to take off tomorrow.

How long will you be away for?

Five days, we are due back Wednesday. I’m not sure what to do.

I’m worried about your Dad, and I’m unsure if he will still be alive on Wednesday.

I can postpone my honeymoon, my wife and I can go at some other time, but this is my last chance to be with my Dad.

You’ve made the right choice, we’re going to get your Dad through this and the rest of your family too.

Thanks Doc.

Hey that’s what we’re here for, please take care.

I think therefore I am? – Dropped

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Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

I feel so lost, I feel so alone, aren’t I good enough for you? What did I do wrong? Why did you change so suddenly? I thought you’d always be there for me. I thought you’d have my back.

Many different people may be felt to be the other, this can have a racial basis, or be on a religious basis. People are labeled as other to justify treating them badly, and this is an unjust situation in this day and age. What other justifications are there for bad treatment of our fellow humans?

Palliative care patients may face stigmatisation for being closer to dying than most people. Oh well they’re going to die anyway, so why should we bother taking care of them? Just shove them in the corner and pull the curtain around them, and forget about them. Out of sight and out of mind. Not my problem mate. Who cares they’re dying anyway, not worth me expending any effort on them. I beg to differ, dying people deserve even more respect, as they are about to leave our planet, off to somewhere else, destination unknown. What will happen next? I don’t know.

It hurts to be rejected, to be pushed away, sometimes literally pushed away. I don’t want anything to do with you. Please leave, bad enough when you are trying to find a date, but when you are at the end of your life, how much more hurtful could that feel?

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I think therefore I am? – Holding Hands

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Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

There is nothing wrong with holding hands in hospice. The problem is when that is the only treatment that you have to offer.

When modern hospice started there may have been less that could be done for patients thus holding hands may have had to be one of the only treatments available. If they couldn’t control your symptoms then at least you didn’t have to die alone and having someone hold your hand might provide some comfort.

Hospices may have started off as places where semi-retired doctors, nurses and others might go to work when they were wanting an easy job at the end of their careers but modern day hospice requires staff who are willing to continue learning, to grow their skills and knowledge as palliative care situations have become increasingly complex situations. Due to advances in medical treatments people are living longer than they ever have before. The silver tsunami is the greatest achievement of modern medicine, people are able to live to old ages.

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Guest Post – Naomi’s Notes – Appreciation

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Photo by Aude-Andre Saturnio on Unsplash

They were a big Samoan family who supported their mother’s decision to not undergo dialysis for her kidneys. She had no appetite for her favourite foods and the level of care was entering into an unknown realm.   In the distant past the caregiver had done some volunteer work for Hospice and thought this might be the answer to the problem.  

A family meeting was called and Hospice intervention was discussed.  The siblings were unanimous in their decision.  No Hospice, they viewed it as a betrayal and a failure on their part that their mother would be under the care of strangers instead of within her own family.  The siblings were having difficulty accepting the stage that their mother was at.   

Christmas came and she was very ill, she tried to make an effort to enjoy the day for her children.  Her grandchildren carried her outside into the Marquee for Christmas dinner. 

She didn’t want to spoil the day for her children.  They took her back to bed after a couple of hours.   She was too exhausted to sit up any longer.

Two days later she was in hospital, unable to communicate.  She sat and stared into space.  In the morning she woke up and pleaded to go home.  

Without consulting anyone her caregiver made the decision to request palliative care through Hospice.  By the time the discharge from hospital was completed, the hospital bed had already been delivered to her home.  Pain relief had been organised to ensure there was no breakthrough pain.

The family  had been standing alone with care of their mother and initially viewed Hospice as a  “us or them” situation. The siblings  quickly realised it was more  of a “we are on the same team” situation with a wonderful wrap around service.

The experienced nurses provided kind compassionate loving care. The family wanted  the best care for their mother and thanks to Hospice they got it.

I think therefore I am? – Hearts and Minds

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

To do palliative care and hospice well your heart does need to be in it. People can easily tell if you are not really there. It doesn’t have to be as obvious as someone who won’t sit down, or who constantly checks the time on their watch. Do you have somewhere more important to be at the moment, than in my room? Something more important that needs to be done than listening to me?

If someone’s heart isn’t really in it people can tell right away. The lack of attention that is paid to simple things. So we do want people to be engaged to actually care for people. It does need to be done professionally, with kindness and respect. People need to have firm boundaries that they do not cross. It’s about protecting yourself and also the person that you are working with. You can be friendly but cannot be their friend. You can be caring but it must be in a professional manner. We are guests in their lives, and we do not want to disrupt pre-existing relationships.

We are involved possibly in the final chapter of someone’s book of life. It is not about us, but about them. They are the stars of their own show, of their own movie, of their own stories. We are only extras, or play a tiny bit part. We may have only a few lines to say, and we will try to say them well. The direction of the story needs to be guided by the person going through it all. We would not be in the same room as them if they were not sick, if they did not need the care that we can provide. We must never forget that, that they are not here because of us, but that we are all here because of them. The patient needs to be at the centre of everything that we do, not their family members or friends but the actual person themselves.

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Palace of Care – Accelerating towards the finish line

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Photo by Daniel Lloyd Blunk-Fernández on Unsplash

The poor old lady had been through a lot in recent years. Cancer had treated her harshly, and had spread through major organ systems, her liver, lung, and most of the bones in her body. A cruel disease that robbed her of her independence, and dignity. The years that she had the cancer had been relentless, multiple lines of treatment including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy. Despite all of them the cancer continued to progress, to cause havoc, and to ravage her body, and eventually her mind.

The past month had been the worst time of all. Her final decline started with a fall, it was not clear why she fell but she ended up fracturing her wrist. A painful injury that caused her to cry in agony. Her lower arm was placed in a cast for comfort and to give it the best chance to heal. Three days later she fell again, with her other hand outstretched, causing another wrist fracture. Two forearms were now encased by fibre-glass casts. This rendered her unable to wipe her bottom or wash herself. Increasingly dependent she had trouble feeding herself, the casts were of the light weight sort, but when your illness has stolen away precious muscle, the additional weight made brushing her teeth impossible.

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I think therefore I am? – Yearning for connection

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Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

What this palliative care doctor thinks:

It’s not just about language, that’s why Google translate can’t replace human interpreters at the moment. It might be able to translate the words literally from one language to another but it doesn’t yet have the cultural context of where the words came from. The history of the language has not been programmed into it. Take English for example a lot of the words we use are derived from French and other Latin-based languages. You don’t ask for sheep meat, you ask for mutton from the French mouton. Similarly beef, not cow meat, from the French boeuf. A translator program is not the same as an interpreter program. Google Interpret would have to be much more sophisticated and would need cultural programming as well as linguistic programming.

A person may be speaking Chinese, but they are also living Chinese. The food that they eat, the clothes that they wear. Rituals that they follow to celebrate life, and how they deal with death and dying are the missing parts of a person’s identity that cannot be easily translated.
The most important tool I have as a palliative care doctor is my ability to communicate. I make a point of greeting my patients in their native language as much as possible. My accented version of their language is my attempt at providing them with a hint of familiarity. In the area I work in people come from all over the world, from lots of different cultures, with over 200 different languages spoken in our area. I certainly do not know all the greetings that are available but a quick Google search can provide me with at least a few words of greeting. A little demonstration of respect that I have made the effort to try to connect with another human being. It may have taken me ten seconds to type in my query but it can often bring a smile to a weary sufferer, whose illness has taken over their body. Someone for whom English may be a second or third language. A little snippet of home, can make a real difference.

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Palace of Care – Smiley

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Photo by Jacob Vizek on Unsplash

I had finally completed my examinations and could start my specialist training. I had been drawn to both Medical Oncology and Palliative Medicine from a relatively young age and I could try working in each speciality for six months before deciding which one I wanted to pursue in the long-term.

One morning during my six months working in Medical Oncology I was in clinic with an Oncologist who I considered to be my mentor. Standard practice was for me to see the patient first, then present the case to my mentor, who would then come and see the patient.

A big friendly smile in the form of a slim 26 year old man walked in with his pregnant partner of similar age. They were accompanied by his cousin who was in his 40s. Smiley’s story was a sad one and had begun eight weeks prior to his clinic appointment. Life was good, he had a steady income from a job he enjoyed. In the weekends he loved playing rugby in the local team. He and his partner had been together for five years and were going to take the next step. Baby was on the way, and was due in five months’ time. Everything was going well until it wasn’t.

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Palace of Care – The T-Shirt

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Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

My consultant asked the young man, “What would you like us to call you?”

He answered, “Your highness.”

“Okay your highness, how have you been?”

That was an entertaining start to the therapeutic relationship which put everyone at ease, and allowed for an air of playfulness to come into the clinical encounter. The patient was in his late thirties and had come into hospital with severe pain. It was likely due to cancer metastases, and he was still recovering from his last cycle of chemotherapy when we visited him.

He talked about what was most important to him, spending time with his young son. This was whilst he was carefully mixing flax seed oil into a serving of yoghurt, as part of a cancer treatment diet that he was trying. He would try anything to keep himself going and wanted to spend as much time with his son as possible.

Despite all the treatments that he had received the cancer continued to progress causing ever more problems. The side-effects of the aggressive treatment were severe and included the loss of his hair. He said that he had always had good hair, and it was one of his personal trademarks since he was a teenager. Now he didn’t mind losing his hair, and he had even designed a t-shirt for the sake of entertaining himself and those who looked after him.

He loosened his dressing gown and revealed his creation. In bold font it simply said, “Hair by Chemo.”