By Hema Shyam | Head - Marketing & Public Relations
It is almost the end of October and in the nine months of this year we have looked after 839 patients and brought solace to their families. Almost 70% of these patients were daily wage earners and once the cancer was in an advanced stage they could not go to work and hence could not earn for themselves. Medicines and dressings were beyond their reach. On being admitted to Karunashraya it brought them immeasurable relief not to have to worry about medicines and dressings for any open wounds.
The donations received from this project from its inception stands today at US$ 14832/-. This money has gone a long way in relieving the patients of pain and anxiety. As a part of the Palliative Care that we extend to our patients we have three counsellors who counsel not only the patients but also their family members. This counselling goes a long way in solving problems that stress out the patient. We had seen cases where a son is estranged from the family but now the mother or father wants to see him. A daughter who was taken away from home when small by an uncle, sold or made to work and not allowed to contact her folks. Now because of cancer she is discarded but does not want to go home to trouble her old parents. Our counsellors have been able to bring these people together. Our case study in this report is about Nagendra who was suffering from throat cancer. He was worried about his son's wedding which was to take place a month later. If he died before that, the wedding would be postponed by a year as per custom and both families would lose a lot of money. The counsellor spoke to all the people concerned and got them to prepone the wedding. Nagendra could not attend the wedding but the married couple came to Karunashraya immediately after the function to seek the father's blessings. Nagendra passed away peacefully the following week. When there is no stress factor in the mind of the patient, when the end comes it is quite peaceful without any agitation.
The ever increasing cost of medicines and dressing materials makes it very difficult for cancer patients to manage on their own. It is a very big relief for them when they are admitted here and do not have to pay for these things.. Your donations help us to care for more such patients. Our sincere thanks to each and everyone of you donors, for your continued support.
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