HONORARY ADVISOR: Dr Rosalie Shaw PSM, MBBS Hons (Monash), FRACMA, FACHPM, BA (Melbourne), BEd (Melbourne), RN, RM

Issue 113October – December 2015

P erak Palliative Care Society (PPCS) provides home care services for children who are

suffering from incurable, life-limiting illnesses or those at the end of their life. However, the number of such children are small and, as a refresher course, three staff, namely Dato’ Dr Ziaudin, PCN Wong Shaui Mun and PCN Nancy Koh, were sent to this workshop at the Taiping Hospital on 30 November 2015. It was a one-day course of lectures and group-work led by Dr Chong Lee Ai (Hospis Malaysia), Dr Farah Khalid (UPM Serdang) and Dr CC Lee (Palliative Care Unit, Hospital Selayang). It was emphasized that Pediatric Palliative Care is not about dying but assisting child and family to live the fullest extent possible. With Palliative Care, the focus changes from disease to patient and family, and goals change from cure to respite and supportive care.

How do you know if a child should be under Palliative Care? One simple way is to ask a ‘surprise’ question. Would you be surprised if this child died within 6 months? If the answer is no, then this child should be under palliative care. What do parents need? They need honest information about their child’s condition and prognosis, preferred care at home, access to a multidisciplinary team when caring for child at home, support from other children, bereavement support, and a balance of hope and the reality of “hope for the best but prepare for the worst”.

Dealing with common symptoms at home (for cancer patients) of fatigue, pain, and breathlessness, and (for non-cancer patients) seizures, drooling, muscle spasms as well as non-physical symptoms like communication impairment and impaired cognitive functions were discussed. How should

WORKSHOP: Palliative Care For Children

Dr. CC Lee demonstrating Button Therapy

Small group discussion on how we can improve the quality of life of our patients

community palliative care staff handle emergencies like sudden paralysis due to spinal cord compression and massive bleeding?

In Pediatric Palliative Care Management, other than just assessing and treating symptoms, we set our goals on care and communication with patient and family. Since communication plays an important part in Palliative Care Management, principles of good communication with active listening and useful phrases in discussing prognosis, end of life, hope,

denial, or over-expectation were discussed and practiced during group work. Talking to children is more than verbal or non-verbal (body language). Children often communicate by play. Communication can be facilitated with miniature toys, stories, Button Therapy and hand puppets. Instead of saying “nothing else can be done” or “no more treatment can be offered”, we should think about “What can I do to make a difference to his quality of life?”

Report by Dato’ Dr Ziaudin

2 Perak Pall iative Care Society • Issue 113 October — December 2015

Pantai Hospital Ipoh hosted a Christmas & New Year Wish party for the clients of Perak Palliative Care Society on Thursday, 3 December 2015 at its premises.

The event kicked off with a welcoming speech by Ms Betty Caleb, Senior Manager of Business Development & Corporate Communications, followed by a health talk by Dr Mohd Syahizul, Consultant Medical Oncologist on Hope for Late Stage Cancer Patients.

Dr Mohd Syahizul, during his talk, said “In health care, it is generally acknowledged that individuals experiencing or dying of cancer face a challenging time. However, oncology and palliative care have responded by developing a regimen of treatment and care. Each patient has to reinforce an attitude of “not giving up” to rebalance the ratio of quantity of life to quality of life.

The event became more meaningful when gifts were given to every client by the PHI staff. We had such a great response from the clients due to the whole-hearted commitment and cooperation of our nursing staff, volunteer coordinator and volunteers. Christmas & New Year Wish is a wonderful event for clients to experience the joy of year-end festivities and the spirit of giving and receiving. Ms Guddi Roy said, “It is heart-warming to see joy on the

faces of clients; reflecting the generosity of PHI and its commitment to the community”. To wind up, the clients were treated to a sumptuous lunch.

Ms Renuka LatchemananAsst Manager

Business Development & Corporate Communications

Pantai Hospital Ipoh

CSR Christmas & New Year Wish at Perak Palliative Care Society, Ipoh

CSR Christmas & New Year Wish

Clients were treated to a lunch

CSR Christmas & New Year Wish

Each client was presented a gift

Sunshine Program at PPCS is for clients of PPCS who are well enough to come to the centre.

It is organised twice a month on the first and third Thursdays. The objective of this program is to provide an opportunity for patients to be out of their home; mingling and networking amongst themselves. It serves to motivate them and inculcate a positive attitude towards quality living. Sunshine Hour also provides an opportunity for care-givers to take a break or to catch up with other matters.

The activities are organised by Mrs Guddi Roy, our volunteer coordinator, and she is assisted by PPCS volunteers. We thank all volunteers for their time, effort and resources in helping out with the activities. PPCS also

encourages clients to help others less fit than them. Some of our cancer survivors have also been recruited as volunteers.

Typically, each session is attended by 20-30 clients of various races and religions. Activities

carried out include singing, playing musical instruments, magic shows, comedy; physical activities like stretching, simple dance, indoor games, foot massage, handicraft, and sometimes even short talks. All major festivals

and birthdays are celebrated during this sunshine hour.

We wish to thank individuals, groups and corporate bodies who have provided their expertise, organized a particular sunshine program or sponsored a whole event.

Clients assisted by volunteers in making a “kolam” in conjunction with Deepavali

One of the completed “Kolam”

Sunshine Hour at PPCS

3Perak Palliative Care Society • Issue 113 October — December 2015

We thank all our donors for their generosity. As PPCS is a non-governmental agency, it relies substantially on the financial support of the general public. If as a reader of this newsletter, you wish to donate something to the Society, or you know of anyone who might be interested in doing so, please direct your personal donation or inform them to contact the Honorary Treasurer at:

PPCS, 54 Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, 31400 Ipoh, Perak. Tel/Fax: (605) 546 4732Email: admin@ppcs.org.my

Promoting the Spirit of Care

Thanks

PPCS and its clients had a memorable day when the Taiwan Cancer Prevention Society made a stopover in Ipoh as part of their cycling tour of Malaysia on 6 July 2015. Organized by the International Cancer Rehabilitation Society in KL, this cycling tour, held from 4-7 July 2015, covered Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ipoh.

“With Hope, We Bloom” was the motto of this event. Some of the Taiwanese cancer survivors, together with their families, cycled from Old Town to PPCS alongside our local cycling team called My Ride Team. By creating awareness of cancer and life with cancer, they promoted and shared with PPCS clients the importance of hope, exercise and mental health in fighting cancer.

吴兴传, President of the Taiwanese Anti-Cancer Association who is a 7-year cancer survivor shared with us how (运动抗癌) exercising has helped him to accept that cancer doesn’t mean death and that one can still live with cancer. Life doesn’t stop with cancer.

Another cancer survivor, Lola, had pancreatic cancer 4 years ago and was given only a few months to live at the most by her doctor. Lola shared how she fought cancer with optimism and strong mental health.

A few other survivors also shared their experiences in battling depression, claustrophobia and other chemotherapy side effects in overcoming cancer.

The event ended with everyone mingling and feasting on nasi lemak and local fruits such as durian, rambutan, jack fruit and papaya.

Hopefully our clients have gained much insight from this event.

Let Life Bloom, “Where there’s Hope there’s Life”.

Pedal for HoPe ~ Event in Ipoh ~

4 Perak Pall iative Care Society • Issue 113 October — December 2015

DONATIONS received during October – December 2015OCTOBER 2015 RMImo Charles David Palmer 150Chaiw Oi Chan imo Ong Ah Choo @ Wong Yik Meng 140

Imo Ong Ah Choo @ Wong Yik Meng 1,000

Thirunavukarasu a/l C. Arasukavalar 500Chan Cardiovascular Specialist S/B 3,000Irene Tan 100Ng Yok Fong 200Ng Wai Yee 150Yap Wan Cheong imo Yap Mu Chan 400Seow Foong Yee 150Imo Chuah Yew Huat 50Aw Mun Yung 50Chin Chon Peng imo Lee Hean Yin 200Imo Chong Ngan Mooi 1,479Christine Neo 50Victor Lee Kok Hee 1,000Choo Kok Leong 100Lim Soon Kong imo Lim See Lin 100Teoh Boon Keong imo Teoh Hung Khoon 160

Theresa Woo Wai Kuan 150Imo Serina Chia Choon Len 270Lim Sin Yin 200Chaw Ah Kwan 50Goh Swee Fong 200Arienthen a/l Perimalsamy 150Tan Kwang Syen 150Fong Wai Ming 200Yan Mee Lan imo Yan Kam Lan 100Imo Aw Siew Ching 100Imo Aw Ping Chuen 100Loh Foong Kiew 2,000Yee Sook Cheen 150Leong Ee Meng 150Chow Tze Tsing 150Imo Low Fook Loy 100Lau Sook Hun 100Lau Sook Mun 200Lau Sook Heng 50Wong Jone Thau 150Aliff Haikal Hashim 200Lawrence Lau Yoke Kong 50Sumathi a/p Thurairaj 150Cheng Soon Ming 150Foo Wen Yen 150Napier Lodge No. 3418 300Wong Lee Lin 150Lee Chee Kheng 150Leong Wai See 100Imo Foo Yock Meng 190Khen Lim imo Leong Pooi Cheng 500Norhafez Bin Omar 150Nur Samirah 150Yuen Chong Yee 100Khoong Wai Kwong imo Oh Ah Kau @ Or Koon Tai 2,000

NOVEMBER 2015 RMImo Teng You Tai 250Ong Koon Heng 200Ang Cheng Geok imo Thong Sow Meng 300Tan Mai Chiang 150Mak Chee Wai imo Mah Ah Au 200Evelyn Keng Siew Hong 150Imo Lim Siew Poh 1,000Wong See Zee imo Tan Yi 150Yee Young Keong 300Kiang Chen Lung 200

Tham Kim Yoke 200Lim Seng Kooi 500Dr Lai Thian Seong 500Dr M. Selvamany 150Lim Soon Keat imo Lim See Lin 100Tong Yun Yit 150Wong Moy Foong 150Wong Pow Ching 150Muhammad Juhari Bin Ismail 150Vincent Huang Ming 150Wong Hoong Wah 200Chai Keoh Yong 150Alex Tangaraj 150Hew Yim Tat 50Chua Rue En 3,000Lim Wai Loon 50Tan Fun Kwai 200Tan Gee Shoon 200Choong Chooi Mun 2,000Zulnaz B. Darus 150Yew Thein Fung 150Fong Wai Ming 200Syakira Bt Zakaria 150Chen Seok Chin 50Ting Beong Ching imo Lim Siew Hong 220Imo Low Boon Lan 300Wong Siow Fun 20Wong Mee Mey 100Imo Chin Ah Cheng 380Tong Yun Yit imo Chin Yook Lan 350Yong Pai Hang 150Lee Kiaw @ Lee Hock Wah 150Roshaida Ahmad Shubeli 100Daphne Wong 100Domnick Leo Doss 150Syed Ramdzan Byros Khan imo Sekenabibee a/p V. Muhamed 400

Wong Lee Lin imo Lee Kooi Shong 170Ng Thew Kuen 150Tang Kok Kong 150Fadzli Mohamed Zain 100Kuan Lin Foong 150Rama a/l Thevee 50Ng Fik Wan 300Dato' Cheah Keng Meng 1,000Dato Shum Long Sang 1,000Liew Kar Hoe imo Liew Kee Ming 300Datin Seri Ting Sui Ngit Foundation 15,000Chang Yoke Yee 150Imo Aw Siew Ching 100Imo Aw Ping Chuen 100Lee Yip Aun imo Cheng Yoke Mee 1,500Perak Turf Club 5,000Seow Choon Keat 100Lee Shyi Seng 150Sumathi Thurairaj imo Raja Letchimy Subramaniam 150

Imo Chin Kok @ Loo Siong Kok 1,000Cheong Song Kee @ Teoh Soong Kee 1,000DECEMBER 2015 RMMussco Collection Sdn Bhd 500Tang Kok Kong imo Soo Swee Kim 150Imo Chee Gun 500Wong Moy Foong imo Ng Pin Kooi 150Nurhayati Sulaiman 150Dr M. Selvamany imo Chow Mei Leng 150Imo Charles David Palmer 150Thanabalan a/l Thetchanamoorthy 50Har Wei Herng & Har Wei Hao 300Imo Woo Kiew 3,000Cheong Shianq Huei imo Chong Yoon 4,500

Ng San San 100Yong Wai Seng 150Hiew Swee Sze 150Goh Guan Huat 200Abd Rahim B. Abd Hamid 150Yong Koon Fook 2,000Yau Choy Seong 150Loong Lan Heng 150Kinta Lodge No. 3212 E.C. 50Dr Jayakumar Devaraj 200Dr Jeyaratnam 150Lee Kor Chee imo Chua Book Rom 300Lee Kor Huan imo Chua Book Rom 300Fan Yau Chun 300Yeong Yoon Moi 50Chong Foo Wing 150Ho Mei Lan 150Chan Sin Heng 200Chew Tat Jin 100Wong Chee Kit imo Kong Mew Keng 300Chan Yik Yeng imo Lee Geck Sim 300Chan Choong Mun 200Lim Cheng See 150Wong Siow Fun 20Fong Wai Ming 200Lau Shan Theng 150Lee Mun Soon 150P'ng Sin Aun 500Yeoh Lam Ewe 100Cheah Mee Lin imo Foo Yong Ying 1,000Leong Yock Thai 200Wei Sow Lan 400Chong Swee Kong 100Choke Yin Mei 150Zulkifli Ahmad 150Lee Fook Mun 150Wu Kok Sing 150Norfadzilla Bte Mohamed Nor 10,000Mrs Maggie Wong 500Tham Choi Han 150Allamanda Leong Sit 150Late Sheerina Pritam Kaur 1,001Aileen Ding 500Ng Swee Mun imo Lim Yee Yoke 1,500Dr Ng Swee Fong imo Lim Yee Yoke 2,000Soo Lai Yin 150Aw Ee Lee 150Hew Fook Yoon 150Imo Lee Weng Poh 280Mariammah Ramasamay imo Ponnarasen Sivanipulan 100

Mohd Kamal B. Mat Wasi 150Leong Ching @ Leeng Son 10,000Phang Loy Fatt 2,000Liew Swee Choong 200Promserv Sdn Bhd 10,000Promserv Engineering Sdn Bhd 10,000Wong Pooi Ching 150S.Pannir Selvam 150Lim Cheng See imo Chew Yat San 150Amirah Bt Baharuddin 150Chin Soong Sang 50Song Chee Mun 100Gabriel Hew Poi San 50Lee Chee Wai 50Loo Yau Foo 150Tham Soo Sam 200Kam Lup Seong 5,000Ng Thew Kuen imo Ng Mee Kim 4,000Lim Soon Kong imo Lim See Lin 100Chai Sau Peng 300(*imo = in memory of)