Family's pain multiplied at pointlessly lingering death

This article was published in The Sydney Morning Herald 22 September 2010

My first patient for the day is Mrs East. She is 97, a former ballerina who at 92 still caught the train to drop into the casino when she felt in the mood. At 95 she slipped and broke her hip. The hip was replaced but not her confidence.

She protested against being moved into a nursing home but, once there, grew to like it. She couldn't believe that someone would bring her a meal if she just said the word. Her nurse pinned all her dancing medals and ribbons to a wall where she could enjoy them.

Last year, she became a little forgetful. She could recognise her eight children and 20 grandchildren but she was no longer so good at remembering the 10 great-grandchildren. But the family loved her and took pains to make her feel normal. On her 97th birthday, Mrs East spat out her birthday cake, saying it hurt to swallow. Two days later she was diagnosed with advanced oesophageal cancer. She declined any form of treatment, opting for comfort measures alone. Although her memory wasn't great and she needed to keep a log of which family member she had spoken to, she made it clear to all her children that she considered herself to have led a good life and was not afraid to die. In fact, she joked, since her beloved football team was having one of its worst seasons, she was keen to shield herself from further ignominy!