Lending solace to the terminally ill

By Sahana Charan

BANGALORE, JULY 9. Ashok, a successful chartered accountant, died of brain tumour last year. He was bed-ridden for the last four years of his life.

But his is only one of the over 10,000 cancer cases registered every year at the Kidwai Institute of Oncology (KIO). The KIO statistics reveal that 80 per cent of the patients reach the hospital too late for treatment.

Pronounced terminally ill by doctors, cancer patients in the last stage of their illness die sooner than expected because of extreme emotional trauma and lack of psychological support.

While hospitals such as the KIO (because of the unmanageable numbers) cannot provide terminally ill patients the psychological and emotional support they require, there are smaller hospices that can. The City-based "Karunashraya" is one such place.

At "Karunashraya", a part of the Bangalore Hospice Trust, the inmates are always in excruciating pain. But they look like ordinary patients recuperating from various illnesses.

But the 18 inmates admitted there in the past one year, will never return home alive. They are all terminally ill cancer patients, who have been abandoned by medical science, and they have been brought to this institution to find solace in the last few days of their life.

"Karunashraya" was established a year ago as a "unique in-patient hospice, where care and treatment begin when medicine and doctors can do no more." The aim is to provide palliative care to soothe symptoms such as pain, vomiting, etc., till the end comes.

A project of the Indian Cancer Society and the Rotary Club of Bangalore, Indiranagar, "Karunashraya" has a 22-bed facility at Marathahalli on land leased out by the Government. At present, it has 18 patients though over 250 patients were admitted over the last one year. Some of the inmates went back home to die, and 130 of them died at the hospice.

Mr. Kishore Rao, Managing Trustee of the hospice, points out that, "...palliative care or continuing care as a branch of medicine is little known in India. Most people are unaware that terminally ill patients, though not curable, need a lot of care, medication and nursing and should be allowed dignity in death," he says.

At "Karunashraya", there is an in-patient nursing team of around 20 people, including volunteers. There are three visiting doctors, including Dr. Vijayram, an expert in palliative care.

Ms. Gulbano, office in-charge and counsellor at "Karunashraya", believes that counselling forms an important part of hospice care, "because both the patient and his/her family members are emotionally traumatised by the disease and its implications."

Most of the patients at "Karunashraya", both home care, that is, where they are treated at home and not at the hospice, and in- patients, are very poor.

According to Mr. Rao, 76 per cent of the patients are those who are rendered penniless by hospital treatment. "All care at the hospice and in the homes of patients is free of cost. The project is funded solely through donations from individuals and corporate organisations," he adds.

The home care treatment originated with the Bangalore Hospice Trust (BHT) five years ago. When it began, BHT's Home Care Service attended to the nursing needs of the terminally ill. Now, a four-member home care team, including two nurses and two helpers, goes to different corners of the City in two donated autorickshaws to treat patients, who are too ill to be moved from their homes.

The team dresses wounds, applies medication and trains the patient's family members to render similar care. Besides, they also counsel family members to face the death of a loved one.

Till date, nearly 650 patients have received home care and 575 of them have died in peace.

"Karunashraya" is located on Airport-Varthur Main Road, Marthahalli and can be contacted on Ph: 8476133.

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