Story by: Anil Sharma

Some narratives are worth reflecting upon as they make you realize the worth of your care ethics. Such is the story of Nupur who wanted to meet her son and adjust with her terminal illness. I am going to retell this story which I have experienced.

It was mid March 2020, amidst lockdown due to Covid- 19 pandemic. I received a call from CanSupport helpline to counsel a patient’s (Nupur) daughter who was in emotional distress due to her ailing mother. At that time, all counselors of CanSupport were providing supportive counseling virtually through phone or video calls while our doctors and nurses were on the field to serve the extremely needy and end of life patients.

I called the patient’s daughter and asked about her well-being. She told me that her mother was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney last year when she was visiting her in England, but as the cancer was advanced, so the family decided, with the patient’s consent, not to go for painful curative treatment with no quality of life but to opt for Palliative Care instead to keep her comfortable.

Nupur, aged 58 years has a daughter and son who are permanent residents of UK and both are physicians there. The daughter and her husband came to Delhi to visit her mother but she got stuck due to lockdown. When we first visited Nupur at her home, she was partly bed ridden. She was in immense pain, moreover, she was having a low self –esteem due to her dependence on her daughter.

To manage these issues our Doctor and Nurse managed the physical pain very efficiently and put on urinary catheter so that she wouldn’t have to wake her daughter each time she wanted to use the bathroom.

After which she felt a sense of control over certain things. Having felt comfortable with our work, Nupur really opened up and shared a lot about her feelings, thoughts and concerns with me (Counsellor). As a team it is our primary function to ensure that the patient’s concerns are addressed holistically so that it can bring them maximum comfort.

I empathically listened to all her concerns and worries and reassured her of our support and CanSupport team’s availability during this difficult time. Seeing the expression on her face and eyes, I believe she felt a sense of calmness and comfort after her emotional catharsis.

Her daughter also ventilated her feelings and anxieties with respect to her mother’s care and about her daughter, whom she had to leave alone in UK.

After a few visits while Delhi was preparing to unlock and lockdown restrictions were being eased out Nupur’s daughter requested us if we can provide a letter of recommendation that would contain the present health status of her mother, stating that her mother is bed ridden, terminally ill and under the Palliative care services of CanSupport team.

She needed this letter so that she could present it in front of the Indian High Commission in UK, to get their approval to allow her brother to visit India and meet his terminally ill mother.

Due to Covid-19 Pandemic, there are International travel restrictions and hence the letter of recommendation was of much needed help. CanSupport Home Care Head issued the letter and it proved to be a great help to the family. Based on the letter her brother was allowed to travel and finally meet his ailing mother which was Nupur’s desperate wish. For this kind act the family is very grateful to CanSupport for going an extra mile to lend such a help.

Presently her son is looking after his mother and is the main caregiver. The patient is happy and relaxed to have her son beside her and the family is really appreciative for the help and efforts that the CanSupport team have made towards this.

Uniting ailing mother with her son amidst Covid -19 lockdown, I believe is a great testimony of our work at CanSupport after all its not about prolonging life but the quality of life.