A Last Wish Come True

In October 2016, Sareena Khan, a woman in her early 50s, walked into PALCARE’s office with end-stage cancer, seeking palliative care. Her husband had died 5 years prior in a tragic accident leaving her to look after her two unmarried sons, now in their 20s. When the team physician asked what she knew about her disease and what she thought lay ahead for her, she thought hard and long before responding. “I think I have a cancer”. And she added “I am worried for my children”. More than anything else, she said, at this last stage of her life, she wanted a new home for her sons which would be their very own. She knew she must work very hard to fulfill this dream in her lifetime.

On the first home care visit, the PALCARE team spent time with the family, carefully explaining what end-of-life care was. They assessed Sareena’s symptoms and started her on morphine, immediately bringing her pain & breathlessness under control.

Six months later, Sareena suffered from a tragic fall & went into a coma. Her two young sons were devastated and needed emotional support, which the PALCARE psychologist ably provided, making sure they were emotionally well prepared for the end. All that Sareena’s sons wanted now was for their mother to have a peaceful and pain-free existence through her last days. They also wanted that their mother’s one last wish – to buy a house – be met in her lifetime. To their great satisfaction, exactly four days before she passed away, Sareena’s wish was fulfilled when the sons were able to close the deal for their new home.

*Patients’ names, on this and following pages, have been changed to protect their identity.