Palliative Care for Breast Cancer Patients is Not Only for the End Stage

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Patient breast cancer sometimes requires palliative care to improve the quality of life. However, this treatment often gets a negative stigma. It is thought that this treatment is only for dying patients.

This was said by the Head of the Dharmais Cancer Hospital Palliative Installation, Maria Witjaksono. He emphasized that in reality the treatment was not for patients who were about to die.

“Just ppalliative treatment needed from the start. Even when the cancer cells are not yet malignant, “said Maria through a press release in the framework of the Breast Cancer Foundation Indonesian Breast Cancer Month received Tempo.co, Monday, October 5, 2020.

The alumnus of the Faculty of Medicine, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) gave an example, if the patient has not been diagnosed with breast cancer, while it is suspected that it is an advanced stage breast cancer, the patient needs treatment. palliative.

“For what? The main thing is how they are free from the symptoms they are or will feel,” explained doctor Maria.

As for those who have just been diagnosed with breast cancer, it is not an easy thing to take the disease for granted. So palliative care is beneficial for patients to understand about the disease.

“Patients can accept their disease well, so we can invite patients to discuss what treatment is best for these patients,” he continued.

Apart from the negative stigma, palliative care is also difficult due to the inaccurate family response. Maria explained that there were many families who continued to insist on treatment when doctors stated that there was no longer any treatment for suffering patients cancer further stadium.

At times like these, said Maria, palliative care would actually be very beneficial. Because it is precisely at times like this that this treatment is carried out for patients who can be said to have not responded to curative treatment.

This effort is more important than forcing oneself to take actions that doctors themselves can no longer do.

Apart from the fact that the results will not be better, Maria added, forcing treatment in this condition will also make the patient lose time to be with family.

“With no invasive action, patients can have a longer life expectancy,” he said.

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