END OF LIFE CARE
At Sacred Heart Home, where our Dominican order has cared for patients with incurable cancer free of charge since 1930, we understand that decisions about end-of-life treatment, and the acceptance of a diagnosis and prognosis, are affected by so many variables. They include stage of disease, treatment type, patient’s present condition, patient and family wishes, patient’s fears, and more (“Too much care in final days?” Sept. 18). What is so necessary to remind ourselves of is that every person is worthy of care. This must be strong in our minds, so that the pendulum does not swing from treating too much, or inappropriately, to the practice of euthanasia.
Every person is in need of knowing he is loved and will be cared for until death. The assurance of loving care is the only real treatment for the anxiety of facing death.
Sister Marie Edward, Philadelphia
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