The Lived Experience of Persons with Terminal Cancer: A Qualitative Study

This study aims to elucidate the life and death experiences of patients with terminal cancer. The researchers interviewed 18 terminal cancer patients, for a total 3,118 min. A psychophenomenological approach was used for analysis. Three themes were derived: a new appreciation for the gleam of an ordinary life after experiencing extreme suffering, a desire to at least pass away peacefully when sensing impending death, and a desire to remain useful to loved ones and other suffering patients like them. The novelty of this research derives from its finding that life and death are not in conflict and can lead to hope.

Pharmacist's Intervention Considering the Prognosis for a Terminal Cancer Patient: A Case Report

Prognostic prediction has been reported to affect the decision of doctors and non-physician health care providers such as nurses, social workers, pastors, and hospice volunteers on the selection of appropriate medical interventions. This was a case of a 65-year-old woman who presented with a poor oral intake. The patient had a history of sigmoid colon cancer with abdominal wall metastasis and peritoneal dissemination. On the day of admission, nausea, anorexia, and malaise were noted, requiring immediate intervention. The patient’s prognosis was predicted using the Palliative Prognostic Index. The pharmacist suggested the use of dexamethasone tablets in order to alleviate the patient’s symptoms. Indeed, the administration of dexamethasone alleviated the symptoms of nausea, loss of appetite, and malaise. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report to demonstrate that prognosis prediction is important not only for other medical staff but also for pharmacists when deciding the need to initiate a treatment and continue such treatment, and when providing pharmacist interventions.

Bereaved Family Members' Perceptions of the Distressing Symptoms of Terminal Patients With Cancer

BACKGROUND

Few data are available on bereaved family members' perspective on the frequency of symptoms and degree of distress among terminal patients with cancer.

METHODS

We sent a questionnaire to 1472 bereaved family members of terminal patients with cancer in 20 general hospitals. The questionnaire asked them (1) to indicate which symptoms the patients had, (2) to rate on a 4-point scale the extent to which the symptom was distressing, as follows: 1 = not distressing, 2 = slightly distressing, 3 = quite distressing, and 4 = very distressing at the point of 2 weeks before the patient had died.

RESULTS

We analyzed 805 questionnaires for this study. Anorexia was the commonest symptom among terminal patients with cancer experienced by bereaved family members, followed by somnolence, weight loss, fatigue, and pain. Anorexia was the most distressing symptom among terminal patients with cancer experienced by bereaved family members, followed by weight loss, pain, edema, and dyspnea.

CONCLUSIONS

Anorexia and weight loss were frequent symptoms and bereaved family members felt very distressing. Furthermore, there are not means of effective treatment now. Thus, we think that further study in this field is necessary.