So, my shrink went to Iran for six weeks, and by default, I have not been debriefed in a while. Therefore, brace yourselves for an unpacking about people who have annoyed me over the past few weeks and a blog that is going to be more like the Jerry Springer show than an informative, dignified, article. Sorry in advance. I recently spoke to Chant Malan recently. She is a brilliant psychologist not mine though, as I said mine was in a troubled country leaving her poor patients to face their troubles alone.
Chant always says that she is very weary to work in the explosive environment in which we find ourselves daily, especially around end of life. I asked her why, and she said that not only is it an extremely emotive situation, but also a reactive one.
People react, to everything, all the time. Dr Craig Howes, one of our favourite palliative care doctors, also says that when parents are sick or approach the end of their lives, the children usually revert back to their childhood roles, regardless of where they are in life. We see that horror show unfold all the time, and often we have to balance between serving the patient as best we can, and calming down the family members who are having tantrums, orbreaking up fights between siblings.
Recently, a sweet cancer patient checked in. Her carer, who was also her partner, had a heart attack and ended up in hospital. Suddenly, there was no one to care for her, as all four her children were on different continents. She was frail and in pain and sported an impressive pressure sore.
We adored her immediately. Her children arrived one by one from overseas and were delighted that she was in such good hands… but then the partner was discharged from hospital and he wanted to take her home.
