Praise for quality palliative care my son received in his last days
This is what quality palliative care looks like.
Our son Peter lived with leukemia for 10 years. The last three years of his life, Peter received palliative care at home through a team of nurses provided by the Community Care Access centre and Dr. Susan Gick. The last six weeks of his life were spent at Maycourt Hospice, where he continued to be seen daily by Susan. During palliative care, Peter was able to enjoy life and so were we.
Even when he was an outpatient, we still visited the hospital 12 to 18 times a month for appointments and collected “frequent flyer points” with the ambulance service and ER. We had the care of the talented doctors and nurses of the Ottawa General Hospital’s leukemia team, as well as our capable home team.
Respite workers came to the house throughout the week and stayed with Peter, who, because of critical pain crises, could not be left on his own. We also benefitted from two trained volunteers from the Maycourt Hospice who took turns visiting Peter on Sunday afternoons. What a joy to hear male voices and laughter booming through the house! Peter was able to keep up gaming with friends at the University of Ottawa and at their homes.
Susan’s visits: How to describe how reassuring her presence was to us all? George, Peter and I shared our lives with her. We asked difficult questions. We shared concerns. We laughed; Peter loved to tease her. She was on call for us.
Toward the end of his life, Peter ended up back on 5 West at the OGH. From there, he went to Maycourt Hospice. Every day in those last weeks of his life, he spent time in the hospice garden, where he was adopted by a neighbourhood cat named Olive. Peter took part in the hospice day program with art and lunch three times a week, making new friends. Volunteers played the piano and viola for him and he played the piano — Peter had been a student at Canterbury High School. Friends visited and there were pizza parties in the garden, with Olive nearby, and home-cooked meals brought into the hospice dining room. We played bridge. Friends continued gaming with Peter at the hospice, including the evening before he died.
This is what quality palliative care provided: It allowed Peter to have his pain controlled and to live well, and in doing so, emotionally supported his family and friends. Through the conversations our family shared with Susan, we were better able to accept and understand Peter’s inevitable passing.
Peter passed away in October, 2013 at the age of 34. My wish is for every Canadian to have access to appropriate palliative care as a basic human right. Janet Marshall, Ottawa
This is what quality palliative care provided: It allowed Peter to have his pain controlled and to live well, and in doing so, emotionally supported his family and friends. — Janet Marshall, Ottawa