Post on 09-Feb-2016
description
Patient and Family Experience Summit
Dr Kate GrangerST5 Doctor in Elderly Medicine &
terminally ill cancer patient
About Me….
What I’m going to talk aboutExperiences as a patient
CommunicationUndergoing proceduresDeciding to stop chemotherapy
The impact of illness on me as a doctorCommunicationAdvocacyImportance of Palliative Care
My experience on the other side as a cancer patient
To me being a patient is…EmbarrassingUndignifiedFrighteningStressfulTime consumingIsolating
Simple as 1,2,3…
Imagine this scenario…I am aloneI am in agonyA junior doctor I have never met beforeTells me I have metastatic cancer…
He then leaves me without telling the nurses what he has just said, does not ask if I would like him to get anyone for me and I never see him again
Finding out my definitive diagnosisMy Consultant sees me with his junior teamHe asks if I want anyone with meAn appropriate warning shot is fired I am gently told that I have DSRCTHe holds my handWhen I break down emotionally and ask the
juniors to leave it is fineLots of quiet time for the news to settleMy questions are answered at an appropriate
level
Procedure after procedure• Retrograde bilateral ureteric stent insertion• 3 x nephrostomies• 2 x omental biopsies• Hickman line insertion• Flexible cystoscopy and stent removal• Antegrade bilateral ureteric stent insertion• Hickman line removal• (and numerous venepunctures, cannulations,
intimate examinations etc)
Dignity!
Deciding to stop
New Year’s Eve 2011In hospital with febrile neutropaenia and peritonitisBurdens of treatment outweighing benefitsPerceived as ‘giving up’ by someRelief from othersConsultant tried to talk me into continuing…
Impact of terminal illness on me as a practising doctor
CommunicationImportance of the ‘Little Things’
Breaking bad newsRight time, right person, right setting, right
after-care
AdvocacyI can advocate for myself effectivelyMany of my patients cannot…
Palliative CareArguably the most important time in
healthcare terms for a patientPalliative Care is everyone’s business
Any questions?
To summariseSerious illness has had a major impact on me
as a doctorCommunication, communication,
communicationPatient-centred care is the Holy GrailPatients are individual people first and
foremost; they are not just disease entitiesTime to care
www.theothersidestory.co.ukShameless self-promotion…