A Talk of Life and Death by Cancer patient at KWNC
Ms. Betty, the cancer patient and Nurse Chan I Seong from the oncology Department of CHCSJ Macau, once invited by KWNC to share respectively the anti-cancer feeling and work experience that echoed a lot among faculty and students in March 2009, revisited the College in Dec. 4th, 2009. After experiencing another medication period, Betty shared her cancer-fighting feeling in body and mind intensively with the participants.
Usually a cancer patient has to surpass the psychological obstacle of the change to his/her own image apart from the adaptation to a variety of side effects during chemotherapy period. Metastasis seems like an invisible time bomb that shows no sign but to hurt a lot. The great power Betty gained from her family and friends’ support and encouragement as well as her belief had helped her face all kinds of life challenges in addition to her positive attitude towards disease. The word “Death”, an invisible threat to a cancer patient though, had been interpreted by Betty with a strong mind. She took death “a matter to get ready anytime”. She had no fears of exchanging her views with family and discussed that with the ward mates, making good arrangement for her funeral affairs in the hope that she would actively participate in personalizing her own “commencement” of life.

　
With rich experience of oncology nursing, Nurse Chan pays much attention to the education of life and death for patients and families apart from her physiological care to cancer patients everyday. She had experienced a discussion once with a patient about the definition of death, encouraged him to record the words in mind for her infant daughter, being an approach to help realize the dream of patient. Since nurses the most frequently-contacted people in the wards, they should well equip themselves for never-ending changes variation of diseases. More caring and accompanying as well as understanding indicate more assistance for patients and their families to go through the disease-fighting period, serving as cardiac stimulant for their weak soul. Finally Ms. Chan encouraged students to constantly reflect why they take nursing career as their aspirations, and should always hold out a hope for the future.