Meet the doctors helping those who are going to die...
(Front row, from left) Dr Pramod, Dr Lakshmikant, Dr Jagdish, Dr Gayatri, Dr Sreekala and Dinesh. (Back row from left) Chinna, Narresh, Padma, Manjula, Vamshi, Venkatesh and Swaroop . (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: A kid with a bandaged foot sits on his dad’s lap and it’s not until you are told that he’s here for palliative care do you realise that doctors have told them that “there’s no hope left for him”. Like him, several others wait for their turn outside Room no. 34 at the MNJ Institute of Oncology Regional Cancer Centre, to be “registered for a peaceful death”.
Palliative care refers to the care and well being of terminally-ill patients. “We step in when they are told that there is no cure. But we aren’t giving them an unrealistic hope. We assure them that even if they have cancer, the pain won’t be excruciating, that it will be as comfortable as possible,” says Dr Gayatri Palat, director of Palliative Access Program, India.
A team of 36 people at the Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society takes care of these patients by not just providing them with medicines but also emotional support. From volunteers who have lost their near and dear ones to cancer to doctors who turn into angels of death, the department never faces a quiet day. You can see doctors sitting with patients, talking to them and holding hands as they question spirituality and faith. “They are at a point when they know they are going to die. Ours is not just a job of prescribing medicines. We have to remind them that the time they have left, is of much value,” she says.
The society, which started the “end of life care” programme in 2006, has taken care of 6,000 patients. In 2008 it started the “life at your doorstep” programme where doctors visit the homes of the patients at least thrice a week for check-ups. In 2013, a 26-bedded hospice was set up in Kukatpally, where so far 600 patients have been admitted and about 400 of them have had a peaceful death.
And as she walks into the pediatric ward, she points out, “In the West, kids with cancer have an 80 to 90 per cent chance of survival. But in India, it comes down to 20 per cent. So palliative care becomes important and we give free services to all of these patients.”
The society, which is funded by many organisations like INCTR, Roshini and Impact, is also organising a fundraiser to create awareness about palliative care on the occasion of World Palliative Care on October 11.
( Source : dc )
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