The Yellow River Hospital is one of the earliest public medical institutions in the city to provide palliative care services.
The first Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Qingming Life Forum was held in Tianjin a few days ago, and experts held a roundtable dialogue on the topic of life.
Tianjin North Network News: It is another year of Qingming, in traditional Chinese culture, this festival is unique and awe-inspiring, and it is so pure that it makes people think deeply.
People are paying tribute to their ancestors and reminiscing about their ancestors in different ways, and this emotion is not only the nostalgia for the deceased, but also the awe and respect for life. In this process, people can't help but reflect on the meaning of life, calmly think about life and death, what kind of philosophical logic should we use to define life and understand death?
For thousands of years, death has been incomprehensible but insurmountable, which has also caused human beings to fall into incomprehension, confusion, and even fear of death. With the rapid development of science and technology, especially biology and medicine, medical problems have been gradually overcome, and new medical technologies have been widely used, so that people's concepts are constantly updated - "life, to have quality, death, to have dignity; to live, to have value, to die, to have less pain", people's confusion about life and death has gradually cleared the clouds, and the meaning of life has also a new understanding.
41 days He went away peacefully
In the first oncology ward of Tianjin Yellow River Hospital, patients with tumors are fighting tenaciously against the disease, and their families are staying by the side. This struggle is both vocal and silent.
When the malignant tumor enters the terminal stage, the pain of the patient is empathetic and tear-jerking, but even so, this pain can only be remembered by the person who bears it, and cannot be fully experienced by others after all.
59-year-old Lao Wu (pseudonym) was suffering from terminal hypopharyngeal cancer, and during his hospitalization in the Yellow River Hospital, his wife was exhausted by his bedside for 24 hours. She was well aware of the severity of her husband's illness, and she knew even more that his death might be in the near future. "I just don't want him to be too miserable, he has been tired all his life, and in the end he will suffer the sin of illness again, I can't bear it!" Lao Wu's wife expressed her appeal, which was simple and moving.
Nankai District is the third batch of national palliative care pilot areas, and the Yellow River Hospital is the city's earliest public medical institution to carry out palliative care services.
Lao Wu's hospital room was quiet all day, and the silence was unsettling. His wife looked at Lao Wu and tried to talk to him in her heart, but Lao Wu kept avoiding it and didn't say a word all day, obviously Lao Wu's fight against the disease was silent.
"In the process of chatting with the family, I knew that Lao Wu was a filial son who served his mother until his old life, and finally walked away peacefully. Kou Ailin, the head nurse of the first oncology department, introduced. In the daily nursing, Nurse Kou also found that Lao Wu was not untalkative, but the pressure in his heart was too great, and he couldn't say anything......
Dr. Wang Lin, an oncologist, relieved the patient's pain through medication and other methods in the active treatment of Lao Wu, and at the same time, Dr. Wang also knew that her words of encouragement could often become the patient's spiritual support, "Your complexion today is much stronger than yesterday." Dr. Wang's words "coaxed" the patient to cheer up, and eating one more wonton for this meal is progress. In Wang Lin's view, the duty of medical staff is not only to treat the patient, but also to alleviate his pain as much as possible.
Palliative care, this is the choice his wife made for Lao Wu. Kou Ailin uses auricular pressure beans, aromatherapy and other methods to relieve the patient's pain as much as possible. In this process, his wife was by his side, learning the techniques, and Kou Ailin was constantly probing into the depths of Lao Wu's heart, hoping that he would say what was in his heart.
Conceptually speaking, palliative care refers to the provision of physical, psychological, and spiritual medical care and humanistic care for patients at the end of their lives, so that they can complete the last journey of life peacefully. But it is not easy to practice, and the grip is very important, Kou Ailin said: "What I grasped was that Lao Wu's mother left peacefully, and this breakthrough was very crucial." ”
Lao Wu closed his eyes and spoke softly to Nurse Kou, as if recalling the life he was about to end: "My family has many children, and I am the youngest, and my father made money alone at that time, and it was not easy to support our family. Old Wu paused and then said, "My mother walked in her sleep, and the neighbors said that this was a blessing from the old lady. Not long after she left, I was sick, and I would be better if I could be like her. I saw tears falling from the corners of Lao Wu's eyes. He said again: "My daughter is married, and I don't have to worry about it, it's my wife who makes me worry." On that day, Lao Wu poured out everything he wanted to say, and it was easy to say it, this change made the attending doctor Wang Lin see it, but from the rational judgment of the doctor, Lao Wu's situation is not optimistic, and he needs to inform his family in advance and be prepared for the unexpected to come at any time.
One day, Lao Wu took the initiative to tell Wang Lin: "Doctor Wang, I ask you for one thing, and you will definitely promise me." Looking at the weak and weak old Wu on the hospital bed, the medical staff were listening carefully to his instructions: "When I am dying, I must not cut my trachea or intubate, even if my lover repeatedly asks, I must listen to me and let me go steadily." Wang Lin nodded silently.
According to rational expectations, Lao Wu's survival period was only more than 1 month, and in the early morning of the 41st day, Lao Wu did not wake up again......
It takes courage to face death head-on
In the eyes of Dr. Wang Lin and Kou Ailin, Lao Wu is undoubtedly the bravest among many patients. He dared to face death, and although he experienced constant self-denial, anger and depression in the process, he finally left the words in his heart in the world. According to Lao Wu's own deathbed will, he did not carry out invasive rescue, but let him leave peacefully.
Wang Guili, director of the nursing department of the Yellow River Hospital, has been engaged in palliative care for many years, and in her opinion, the main body of palliative care is the patient, and the condition of the patient's close relatives cannot be ignored. In the process of treatment, it is particularly important to relieve the emotions of close relatives, and help them get out of this period of psychological haze and grief.
Often, family members are with them during palliative care. "This is not only to give patients a sense of security, but also to avoid regrets for their families," Wang said. At the same time, family members are constantly encouraged to express their feelings, inner feelings and difficulties encountered.
After taking care of Lao Wu's funeral, Kou Ailin made a special call to Lao Wu's lover. On the phone, Lao Wu's family thanked the medical staff: "My daughter and I have no regrets, and Lao Wu has no regrets, he walked calmly and with dignity." During the Spring Festival this year, Lao Wu's wife did not pay New Year's greetings in accordance with traditional customs, but went to the southern city accompanied by her daughter, and wrote her feelings in the circle of friends. Seeing that she finally stood in the sun again after four months of depression, Wang Guili silently gave her a "like".
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Since 2019, the Yellow River Hospital has set up a pilot ward for hospice care, and has established a close medical alliance with the General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Tianjin First Central Hospital and other tertiary hospitals. In Wang Guili's view, the results of several years of practice are that at least some of the patients here have broken the phenomenon of avoiding death, death can be talked about openly, and when this sensitive topic is spoken, the mood is relieved.
It is important to note that this discussion only applies to about half of the patients, and the other half of the patients remain silent, which is closely related to traditional beliefs.
No one can confirm this, because it is impossible for a dead person to tell a living person about what death is all about, and a living person cannot experience death. Death is still an unsolved mystery to mankind, and there is no deeper fear of mankind than the fear of the unknown.
"We understand and respect some patients who don't want to talk about their deaths," Wang said. We do our best to help patients fulfill their wishes and help them complete the last journey of their lives with dignity and without regrets, which is our greatest sense of achievement. ”
At the last moment of life, there are almost no miracles, and what does have miracles is the happy road that people have to the last moment. This is the value of hospice care and palliative care.
Ching Ming Festival: Let's talk about the philosophy of life
"I advocate having a good life, living happily, and living a long life, and at the same time I advocate reducing suffering and leaving peacefully and dignified. A few days ago, the first Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Qingming Life Forum was held in Tianjin, Professor Yuan Xin, vice president of the Chinese Population Association and director of the Center for Aging Development Strategy of Nankai University, said in his keynote speech.
Tianjin is the birthplace of hospice care in mainland China, and the first Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Qingming Life Forum was held in Tianjin, and the focus of the discussion was also on hospice care and palliative care. Professor Shi Baoxin, Director of the Hospice Research Center of Tianjin Medical University, said: "The Hospice Research Center of Tianjin Medical College (today Tianjin Medical University) is the earliest professional institution in China to carry out academic research, education and clinical practice in the field of hospice care, which was established in 1988. In 1990, the first hospice ward in China was established, and the first hospice clinical service was carried out in China, which ignited the first lamp of hospice care in China. ”
Not only in China, but also in the world, hospice care is an industry that has received attention, developed rapidly, and invested a lot.
It is undoubtedly beneficial for experts and scholars from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei to gather together to popularize life knowledge, enhance life awareness, and effectively promote the widespread development of life education in the whole society. The participating scholars delivered special reports on topics such as the inheritance of Qingming culture, the quality and meaning of life, the concept of death, and the perception of life, and in the roundtable discussion session, the participating scholars and guests also had in-depth discussions and interactions on topics such as "the meaning of life" and "the choice of life".
What can we give to a terminally ill patient whose body is suffering from unbearable pain while modern medicine is temporarily unable to give him the possibility of cure? Professor Chen Lu from the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University mentioned a juvenile patient she cared for in her case sharing. When she came into contact with the teenager, Chen Lu had to face the human nature and instinct of life, and the patient and his family longed to live, and at the same time, she had to face the pain that the patient could not bear and could hardly live. In the face of the great conflict between life and death, what doctors can do is to maintain symptomatic treatment while supplementing palliative care.
"We Chinese are introverted by nature and are often not good at expressing our emotions, and this introverted nature often becomes regret in the future. Chen Lu said. In the last days of the teenage patient, parents sat around their child's bedside and opened up to each other under the guidance of nurses. Love, thanks, apologies, and goodbyes at the same time, on the last day of the teenager, there was no intubation treatment, no chest compressions, and finally passed away peacefully.
Calmly facing the end of life, from medical experts to philosophical and social science scholars, all have issued the same appeal, and it has become the consensus of everyone to respect oneself and leave with dignity.
In the Qingming season, all things are reborn, and while cautiously chasing the future, we might as well calmly examine the meaning and value of life: "life" represents hope, and only focusing on "life" may not be a good "life"; only by understanding "death" and being able to observe "life" from the perspective of "death" can we "live" better.