The Brandon Sun from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada • Page 9

lomliy llylnq THE BRANDON SUN, Tuesday, January 1 1 977 9 Life for terminal cancer patients has quality at unit MONTREAL (CP) Heroic measures to prolong life are not part of the treatment program at the palliative care unit at Royal Victoria Hospital here. The unit offers terminal cancer patients hospital care high in personal attention and low in technology. Respirators are not used, although chemotherapy an( sometimes radiotherapy are employed. Medical procedures are ciiosen with the aim of helping the patients to be as comfortable, mobile and independent as possible, A key to treatment in the 12bed unit is the control of pain and one of the main tools is the "Brampton cocktail." Developed in Britain more than 30yearsago.it is an oral narcotic which, taken every four hours, usually maintains a con- tinuous control of pain and does not seem to require ever larger doses. It is tailored to the needs of each patient and is easy to administer both in a hospital and at home providing the patient does not suffer from nausea.

Tests have shown that by diminishing the fear or expectation Df pain, it seems to decrease chronic pain. Many patients have been able to go from a stronger to a weaker dose as their fear lessens. With pain under control, the unit's medical team tries to overcome other common problems such as constipation, incontinence, nausea, insomnia and coughing. If this is achieved, attention can be paid to the quality of the life that jemains for these patients. Personal appearance is important.

Patients are encouraged and helped to wear attractive clothes such as unusual robes or housecoats. They get their hair done; many continue to pursue hobbies such as needlework, knitting or painting if they can; music is available. Children are always welcome and in some instances petsfcre allowed to visit. Birthdays and other special occasions are pirn itu re Sale celebrated. When possible, -Patients go home for short or extended visits under the supervision of home-care services.

'The most important aspect of care in the unit is free and open communication between staff and patients. Neither nurses nor doctors are ever too rushed to take time to listen, In the busy Hoyal Vic-: toria Hospital, the unit, gives the impression of an' oasis of calm, Before the opening of the unit two years ago, Mount, director of-medical services, and. several other staff members visited St. Christopher's Hospital in London, after which the Royal Victoria unit is partly, modelled. The founder and director of St.

Christopher's, Dr. Cecily Saunders, who visited Montreal, recently to address a seminar on the treatment of the terminally ill, deplores the modern tendency "to deny death and avoid discussion of it." At the age of 33, the former nurse and social worker enrolled in medical, school with the aim of founding and directing a centre for the terminally "I wanted to open up this field so it may become a respectable part of medicine," she said in an interview. He may be last of kind (CP) Michael Pi (Black Mike) Winage, who claims to be 107 years old, is one of a disappearing breed of people who knew Dawson City in its prime. Mr, Winage, now in a nursing home, arrived in Dawson in 1900, the year the highest production of gold, $22 million, was ever taken from the Klondike. But even in 1900, two years after the height of the great Yukon gold rush, the town was beginning to die.

The discovery of gold on nearby Bonanza Creek was made in the summer of 1896 when the only men lured north were seasoned prospectors. One year later, news of the strike reached the outside world and another year saw Dawson explode into a tent and wooden shack city of The next year, 1899, the saloons, gambling houses and dance houses began to close as people left Dawson to go down the Yukon River and search for wealth in Alaska. Only the skeleton of Dawson now remains deserted buildings, dirt streets and 750 persons, including Mr. Winage. Until three years ago, he lived in an old shack in the town, a teller of colorful Yukon tales.

"Sometimes I have to use that," Mr. Winage said of the ace of hearts tucked in the lining of his worn black hat. His pose during a recent interview sometimes revealed a wrist bent out of shape from a broken arm he set himself years ago. He got his nickname working coal. "The kids called me Black Mike." An earlier nickname was Sawdust Mike, which he said he got for his habit of sweeping barroom floors for gold dust.

Mr. Winage came to Canada from Yugoslavia and made the trek to Dawson via Skagway and the Chilkoot Pass, driving a team of dogs north for the North West Mounted Police. The trip took him seven months and Mr. Winage proudly claims he "never lost a dog." DILLEY'S Florist and Greenhouses 513.4th St. Phone 727-0440 We have a choice selection Large Chrysonthe mums I A-i Sweetheart Roses Carnations Potted Mum Hants We can Make for choice flowerino arrangements.

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