Humanity and serenity
I benefited from this service for my spouse. You know, it’s also about dying with dignity to have access to it. Being a resident of Ville-Émard, I was able to benefit from the SIAD services of the CLSC de Verdun. The medical team put in place an arrangement that ensured that my wife, who had cancer, died with dignity, along with her three children and myself. The support ensured that the mourning took place in a human and serene context. This service must be extended to all Quebecers.
Pierre Lepine
Wish
I completely agree with the words and the position of the DD Dechêne. I am 73 years old and I hope that when the time comes I will have the chance to end my days in the peace of my home, accompanied by loved ones and to the sound of my favorite music (Bach), rather only in the anonymity and rush of emergency services, although in my own experience they are delivered by dedicated and attentive staff.
Marie Brasseur
Rest at home
I find that very sad. One of my brothers died at his home, surrounded by his family with the services of professionals. He left smoothly. The short time he was in the hospital, he couldn’t rest with the noises, the comings and goings, and the doorbells that kept ringing. So he came home. The CLSC was monitoring his condition. My sister-in-law has been there for him day and night, I take my hat off to him. I hope that everyone can have the support of a team of caregivers at home. A person at the end of life needs calm, his own and good care, whether in a palliative home or at home.
Diane Delorme
Think of us!
Scary, there are no other words. Living with stage 4, terminal cancer myself, I am disheartened to see our government putting obstacles in the way of those who do everything to support us at the end of life. I was told about palliative care at home, but they were careful not to tell me that I could not be treated at home on the eighth day. It’s incomprehensible. So, when some way of getting the government to save money, it looks like it hates it. I would just like our leaders to spend a single day in our bodies to see if it is a pleasure for us to go to the hospital instead of being treated at home! It’s been nine months since I spent in the hospital for so many exams, appointments. It seems to me that we could be thinking a little about us. Because having cancer is a full time job!
Christiane Pichette, Tingwick
Extraordinary
I am immensely touched by your letter. I am a retired nurse who has worked in home care as well as palliative home care. Supporting individuals and their families in the last period of their life is so extraordinary, both for the person and their family and for the caregivers, who meet the ultimate needs and desires of dying at home.
Cecile Letourneau
More means
Yes, we must concentrate and increase resources for end-of-life care at home. I currently see my mother sleeping peacefully at her place and I can feel her well.
Chantal Brisebois
Long course
In 2013, one of my sisters-in-law died at home after a long battle with cancer. She had expressed a wish to be home, which we accepted. Until the end, accompanied by her brothers, sisters, aunts, children and cousins, we took turns. We had beautiful moments, beautiful sharing, giggles with her and tears, sadness too. Throughout this journey, the Verdun CLSC team, nurses and doctors, accompanied and guided us. How lucky for my sister-in-law and us. This way of doing things has allowed us to forge closer ties and to gradually mourn, which is not negligible for the families. This system should be established definitively, it is a question of dignity for the sick person and it is surely less costly for society.
Ginette Dufour
Primacy of the house
My partner for the past 47 years has benefited from this end-of-life care at home following a rapid lung cancer which killed us in seven months. I supported and cared for him as best I could, with a team from the CLSC. There was no way he was spending time in the hospital. For him as for me and the children, it was very important that he stayed at home. I would like to thank the whole team who took care of him again.
Laurie Rafael
Leave with dignity
My daughter, when she was 42, was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer. Her children were then 6 and 9 years old. In the following years, she underwent multiple treatments and surgeries which allowed her to stay with us for four more years. I want to thank the oncology team and the CLSC, who helped her come home, sleep in her bed, to allow her to sit at the table with her children and kiss them before they don’t fall asleep or leave for school. It was surely difficult for them to see their mother losing strength, but a work of mourning began. She stayed home until her lungs constantly needed oxygen. She left us with dignity.
Nicole Latendresse, retired nurse
Thank you
Thank you, this is what I am experiencing with my spouse in palliative care thanks to the support of the Society for Palliative Home Care of Greater Montreal.
Lise Charland