Reflection: palliative care

The dictionary defines palliative as “relieving pain without dealing with the cause of the condition”; I have to admit that was the way I saw it when the consultant first explained “your specific circumstances mean we cannot cure you”, and it was (and is) the way I saw the notion as I tried last year to make my mum’s final days as comfortable as possible.

And my treatment programme is described as being palliative…

…purely because in my case it’s not ultimately able to cure me per se.  But there’s more to it than that, much more that I now realise needs to be clarified: chemotherapy is not, quite patently not, just about relieving pain (in fact, while it’s not at all painful per se so far, chemo has side effects!); it’s goal is, as we hope and pray we will discover in two cycles time, to reduce my tumours, significantly extending quality and quantity of life… that, to me, is not “just palliative”.