Psychosocial Palliative Care in ICU for a Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Case Report
Keywords:
Metastatic breast cancer, Palliative care,
Psychosocial care.
Abstract
Introduction: Palliative care does not always mean an active treatment but maybe in the form of counseling and psychosocial support. We present a case of metastatic breast cancer where the psychosocial principle of palliative care was applied. Case History: A 20-year-old breast cancer patient was treated with surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy before it metastasized to lung and liver. The disease was slowly progressing, and she was deteriorating symptomatically in terms of breathlessness. The father of the patient informed about the marriage of her younger daughter after one week and was not able to take care of the elder daughter (patient). We assured him to help during admission while he may continue his preparations for the marriage. The patient had developed pleural effusion for which she was treated by pulmonologist by tapping the pleural fluid. One day before the marriage of her younger sister, the condition of the patient started deteriorating. On phone consultation and the consent, we shifted the patient in ICU. It was a very difficult decision for a father to take care of both her daughters at the same time. We counseled the father and brother not to worry and assured them all logistic help during the duration of stay in the hospital while he may continue his preparations for the marriage of his younger daughter. The patient expired on the day of marriage, and the father was humbly informed about the bad news. The patient was kept in mortuary. The father approached the hospital authorities after two days to collect the body of his daughter. The father and son were very grateful about the help that they received from the institute, our team of doctors and paramedical staff. Conclusion: In the terminal phase of cancer, we need to approach patients as a family physician rather than treating oncologist.
Published
2016-12-30
Section
Research Article
Copyright (c) 2016 SRMS Journal of Mathematical Sciences
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