On Saturday, January 28, Pallium India-USA and the community of Silicon Valley, California were honored with a special guest.
Pallium India chairman Dr. M.R. Rajagopal gave a talk to a full house at the private home of Dr. Jyoti Lulla, a well known and respected Saratoga physician and community member.
The event, organized by Pallium India-USA, was well attended by many physicians, healthcare workers, Silicon Valley executives and engineers, and others who wished to learn more about the work Pallium is doing in India.
Pallium India-USA Volunteers
Dr. Jerina Kapoor, chair of Pallium India-USA introduced Dr. Rajagopal.
Dr. Rajagopal’s hard hitting and at times emotionally intense talk took on the serious problem of suffering and pain relief in India.
He told two stories: one of a poor woman, Sangeeta, whose mother was dying of cancer. Her own future was foreclosed on as a result of the impoverishment created by the absence of an adequate medical and social system. The second story was of a wealthy man, Mr. Das, who nonetheless was traumatized by his doctors’ insistence he undergo needless life-extending treatments.
Dr. Rajagopal challenged the audience to think about and plan for their own future.
“Most of us won’t have the good fortune of an instant death,” he said. “The majority will have a prolonged decline.”
A lively and passionate discussion followed his presentation. The quality of the talk was a sure sign that positive change is possible when it comes to caring for the seriously ill and dying around the globe.
In all a very successful event.
read more…
Stories of end-of-life are often poignant, occasionally dramatic, and sometimes humorous.
This week, we spotted an article in the New York Times that encompassed all three.
Comedian Mike DeStefano, who died recently of a heart attack, told a story from his younger years that brought both tears and a smile to our faces.
His wife at the time was HIV+ (as was he) and was living out her final days at a hospice, connected to a morphine drip.
DeStefano himself was still healthy, and bought himself a Harley motorcycle. To his surprise, his wife wanted a ride on his new machine. At first, he hesitated. But when she insisted, he gave in.
[Dying] people, they feel ‘I’m alive.’ They pass away at one moment.
Until that moment, they are alive…
So he put her on the back of the motorcycle, first for a trip around the parking lot, and then onto the road. What happened next couldn’t be imagined.
And then I pass the front door, and all these nurses
are standing out front, and they’re all crying.They’re watching us, and they’re crying.
And I didn’t know why they were crying. I was like, Why are they crying?
I didn’t get what they were seeing. I didn’t know.
Because I was just in it; I was living it.
We won’t spoil the story any further, just go ahead and read it yourself:
The Lives They Lived: Uneasy Rider
- This story originally came from an audio podcast – for those who can tolerate the salty language – click here to listen…
Pallium India, with support from JivDaya Foundation and Indo-American Cancer Association (IACA), is organizing a 2-day ‘Refresher Course in Palliative Medicine’ in New Delhi.
Dates: March 17 – 18, 2012
The proposed venue will be CanKids‘ Training Center at J-161 A, Gautam Nagar, Near Green Park Metro Station, New Delhi.
It is intended for practicing palliative care physicians for updating their knowledge and skills with stress on recent developments in this field.
The areas that would be covered during this course include,
- discussions on difficult pain management
- difficult clinical situations like delirium
- role and scope of palliative sedation
- dealing with our limitations
Other issues and areas that will be covered: organizing palliative care units, media advocacy and self learning thru e-resources.
Faculty includes Dr Odette Spruyt, Dr Sushma Bhatnagar, Dr V Nandini , Dr Anjum Khan Joad, Dr Charu Singh and Dr M.R.Rajagopal.
The proposed venue will be CanKids‘ Training Center at J-161 A, Gautam Nagar, Near Green Park Metro Station, New Delhi.
Registration fee for the Course is Rs.1,000. (Registration is free for centers funded by JDF and IACA and for centers supported by Pallium India.)
Those interested may apply with a draft made out to “Pallium India” payable at Trivandrum and sent to:
Mr V.Jayprakashan
CEO, Pallium India
S10, Vrindavan Housing Colony,
Opposite Traffic Police Station,
Pattom, Trivandrum – 695 004
Kerala, India
Email: info@palliumindia.org
The proposed venue will be CanKids‘ Training Center at J-161 A, Gautam Nagar, Near Green Park Metro Station, New Delhi.
There are many misconceptions about opioids and their use in palliative care.
A recent article in The Hindu about a palliative care unit in Bangalore goes a long way towards debunking many of them.
The article, headlined “Leading gently into that good night,” starts off with a story of a female patient in the Palliative Care Unit of the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, who is dying of cancer.
“I want to live to see my daughters married. Who will take care of my children if I die?,” asks Gowramma Amaresh even as she chokes on the last few words, overcome by emotion.
She is one of the thousands of patients seen at this State-run institution, and, like so many others in India, is at a point where cure for her disease is no longer possible. Unlike 99% of the Indian population in need, however, she has access to appropriate pain care.
As Dr. Nagesh Simha, Medical Director of Karunashraya and chairperson of Bangalore Hospice Trust that runs the centre explains in the article, the lack of access is “because of bureaucratic red tape in the procurement of morphine.”
The article goes on to explain: “Palliative care starts with managing severe pain and the most effective method is administration of oral morphine. Only a few hospitals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Bangalore have palliative care units.”
Perhaps most notable, the article includes a graphic that illustrates some of the most common myths about morphine, such as that it is addictive, or that it should only be used for terminally ill patients.
In all, a good addition to the media’s increasingly positive coverage of palliative care and opioid use.
Read the full article at The Hindu…
Where is 
Host a Screening on Feb 1st!
Short Film 35* of 50 in the LIFE Before Death documentary series about the global crisis in untreated pain and the dramatic life changing affect palliative care services can deliver to patients and their families around the world.
In “David Suchet – A Humanitarian Cause” we hear a stirring personal statement from the narrator of LIFE Before Death, David Suchet.
“My interest in pain control and palliative care comes from my own personal life experiences. Experiences I’m certain many of you also share. It is concerns me deeply that four out of every five people do not have adequate access to essential pain medicines, or to the palliative care services that transform the end of our life experience for patients and families alike. I was fortunate enough to watch both my mother and father die ‘well’. And if that is well, it’s not good enough.”
“We’re all going die and I believe that each and every one of us deserves the utmost respect and professional care at the end of life. This includes the universal human right to pain control. I encourage you to spread the word about this critically important humanitarian cause so that we can, each and every one of us, one day, be confident of living well and dying better.”
Popular British screen, stage and radio actor David Suchet is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), an associate artist and governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a Doctor of Letters of the University of Kent. He was awarded an OBE in The Queen’s 2002 Birthday Honours for services to drama. David is perhaps best known for his portrayals of Agatha Christie’s Poirot (Best actor nomination, BAFTA) and Maxwell (Emmy Award Best Actor). David’s other popular film and television credits include The Bank Job, A Perfect Murder, Sunday (Sundance Best Actor nomination), Executive Decision, Song for Europe (Best Actor, RTS Awards), A World Apart (Best Actor nomination, BAFTA), Going Postal, Diverted, NCS: The Series, The Way We Live Now (Best Actor nomination, BAFTA), Blott on the Landscape (Best Actor, BAFTA) and The Life of Freud (Best Actor, RTS Awards).
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* For the eagle-eyed: Don’t worry, you haven’t missed #32, #33 & #34, they were the trailers and teasers for the Feature Film.
If you’ve missed previous episodes, catch up on the LIFE Before Death website…
HOST A SCREENING!
The LIFE Before Death feature film will be released in February 2012. Pallium India will be screening the film on February 3 in Trivandrum.
Why not organise a screening in your community? GET MORE INFORMATION HERE…
