TALKING about dying won’t kill you.
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That’s the message health professionals, and people who have watched a loved one wilt in their final months, want to make clear at the close of Palliative Care Week today.
Robert Charlesworth, Tamworth Regional Council’s director of corporate and governance, knows first-hand the importance of talking about dying, having lost his sister Denise to ovarian cancer in recent years.
The insidious cancer is notorious for being detected late, and Denise became a palliative patient as the disease was far advanced.
Mr Charlesworth said his sister had been an outgoing person and had talked openly with family about her dying wishes for her finances and treatment.
He said while it didn’t make dealing with her death any easier, it “eases that burden” for her family to know they had made decisions she wanted.
Local palliative care clinical consultant Jonathan Gourlay said the essence of palliative care was “shifting from curative measures to comfort measures”.
“Sometimes people think that palliative care is just about dying, but we’re focusing on living well and comfortably with the circumstances that they have,” Mr Gourlay said.
He said patients faced with a grim diagnosis could weigh up the benefits against the burden of treatment.
“They’re much more in the driver’s seat with the decision they make.
“In Australia, there’s a sense of taboo about discussing death and dying, and yet every one of us are going to be affected.
“Death is a normal part of life – we all have to face it.”