Volunteers with Chennai Pain and Palliative Care have inspirational stories to share, a majority of which is about caring for strangers as if they were family. There are also a few stories of volunteers caring for their own flesh and blood — relatives who are terminally ill.
Vijayan Kanayi was attending to a terminally-ill cancer patient at the latter’s home in Pattabiram when this reporter called him recently. Vijyan explained that the 43-year-old patient had to be brought to the hospice centre at Villivakkam in an ambulance.
Vijayan, an employee of Heavy Vehicles Factory, says: “I work on different shifts, which enables me to adjust my time, including my weekly off, which I set aside for a home visit.”
Vijayan underlines that there are 20 patients he is committed to taking care of.
When homemaker Sajini Vijayakumar joined as a volunteer more than four years ago, she had specified that 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. would be her preferred timings. However, over the years she got so involved with the centre’s work that Sajini would not say no even if a request came late in the night.
“Once you volunteer for palliative care, you bear one fact in mind. There is no telling when a patient would be in pain. You just need to be there for the family,” says Sajini, who coordinates for patients from Royapuram to Manali New Town.
In one of her early assignments, the patient required to be given a bath and fed. “An important aspects of the care extended to a patient is to provide them with the food they want. Fulfilling the small desires of a dying person is important to see the person leave peacefully,” she says.
Sindu Sunilkumar, former principal of a special school, says the role is not spelt out for a volunteer. “During home visits, we clean the premises if we find it dirty, cut the patient’s nails, spoon-feed them if necessary, buy medicines and most important offer emotional support to make sure they have a peaceful death,” says the Virugambakkam resident.
