From the Readers

Better to spend last days at home

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-30 07:49

Comment on "Dying at home better for cancer patients" (China Daily Website, Sept 14)

I completely agree with the article about cancer patients dying at home. Statistics show it's not only more comfortable for a patient but also for his/her loved ones. If I were coming to the end of my life and had the choice to die peacefully at home or in a hospital, I would choose the first.

The article says 21 percent of caregivers to patients who died in an intensive care units developed post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with 4.4 percent of those caring for patients who died at home. I can see why this is true. A patient who dies at home is more comfortable and at peace. He/she is mentally and physically in a better place and state of mind. The more a patient is at peace the easier it can be for the family.

One of my best friends in middle school lost her father to lung cancer. After her family found out that her father's cancer was terminal, it opted to have him spend his final weeks at home. My friend was 14 when this happened, so her mother was a little nervous to see how the children would react. But hospice caregivers told her that in many cases it is beneficial for the children, and in my friend's case they were right. The children didn't have to miss even a second with their father because he was always around. It brought them peace to know he was happy till the end.

My friend believes that having her father pass his last days at home was the best decision the family could have made, because he was at his happiest in those last days.

Kaitlyn Badders, via e-mail

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