Manjeet knows first-hand what it’s like to care for an aging parent. She is the immediate caregiver of Ravinder, her 68-year-old mother-in-law, who was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“My mother-in-law was 68 years old, and was perfectly healthy and independent,” Manjeet said. “She cooked, watched tv, played with her grandchildren, went to the Gurudwara every Sunday, knitted, did everything, totally independent. She was totally up and about.”

On Diwali last year, Ravinder made mithai for all her close and extended family. Just two months post Diwali she felt some pain and noticed a lump on her breast. We took her to a hospital and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her quality of life quickly crumbled. “To see her down like this was really, really hard,” recalled Manjeet.

Ravinder was in out and of the hospital and her quality of life continued to deteriorate. Chemotherapy sessions were taking a toll on her and she was getting weaker by the day. That’s when Manjeet learnt about CanSupport’s home based palliative care service in Amritsar. Desperate to improve her mother in law’s quality of life, Manjeet called on CanSupport’s cancer helpline.

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family.

“In palliative care, we try very hard to help the patient themselves make informed decisions with clarity on what would be the right decision for them,” says CanSupport palliative care doctor.

The team from CanSupport sat down with Manjeet and her mother-in-law to discuss their goals for her care and what quality of life meant to them.

“Once we understood that, we could help steer the mediations that were being suggested or the course of care that we should take to support that view of her quality of life.” Dr Mohan shared.

With regular home visits by the home care team from CanSupport, Ravinder’s health and quality of life both began to improve. But that is only part of the story. Palliative care not only treats seriously ill patients, but it also treats their families. Manjeet, battling with caregiver fatigue, needed support too.

That’s why access to palliative care for caregivers and families is critical. For Manjeet and her family, the palliative care team made an important impact on their quality of life as they cared for Manjeet’s mother-in-law.

“Palliative care brought a sense of comfort to Manjeet, who was in a stage of very significant caregiver burnout, a very common scenario for children taking care of their parents or parents taking care of their children, depending on the situation,” says Dr Mohan.

Through the support of the multidisciplinary team, including spiritual support and psychosocial support, Manjeet was able to express her challenges and develop goals for her own care, in addition to her mother’s. Manjeet felt comforted by the whole-person approach that the palliative care team brought to her and her family.

“They were doing what was necessary to help my mother and to help me, my husband and my kids,” explained Manjeet. “They not only helped but were also compassionate. They were probably one of the most compassionate people that I have dealt with, and that made our family’s journey with cancer less daunting.” Today, Manjeet and her mother-in-law are doing well, a reality Manjeet attributes to palliative care.