Madam Koh shares how the palliative care team at St Luke’s Hospital supported her through her late husband’s end-of-life journey and beyond.

Fifty-six-year-old Madam Koh finds it difficult to navigate life without her late husband but she is doing her best to get by, one day at a time. Months after his passing, she recalls the care he received in his final months at St Luke’s Hospital (SLH). 

For someone who had worked diligently his whole life and seldom took breaks, the late Mr Lim’s lung cancer diagnosis in December 2020 came as a huge shock to the family. In August 2023, his condition deteriorated and he was admitted to SLH for inpatient palliative care.  

While at SLH, Mr Lim’s singular wish was to go home. Initially hesitant and worried, the multidisciplinary team worked closely with the family to facilitate his wish. With Madam Koh being a caregiver for the first time, therapists provided necessary wheelchair training, covering areas such as boarding a taxi and transferring from the bed to the toilet, while nurses taught food preparation and provided feeding tips. “Against all odds, Mr Lim made it back home after three months. I trust it was meaningful time spent with family in the comfort of his home,” said Registrar Dr Rachel Lu. 

As Madam Koh was mostly alone at home, the team arranged for Mr Lim’s admission to hospice day care. Dr Rachel remained a steadfast source of support to ease Mr Lim and his family back into the community. With video and voice calls, she made virtual assessments and provided counselling and advice on medication such as morphine and fentanyl patch dosing. “Dr Rachel was always a phone call away, even at weekends, providing medical assistance aside from the hospice service,” mentioned Madam Koh. 

When Mr Lim’s condition worsened, the team prioritised his care needs by providing community palliative care resources, including referral arrangements to SLH at the end of December 2023. “While Mr Lim was not inclined to return to an inpatient setting, he was content if it could reduce the care burden on his beloved wife at home,” observed Medical Social Worker Leong Si Jie. 

Following his readmission to SLH, Mr Lim had a stroke, resulting in worsened hearing and an inability to move, communicate, or swallow. While he was still mentally sound, his physical decline was not easy for the family to witness, especially for Madam Koh, who visited him every day. Mr Lim no longer looked forward to weekly patient devotions and leisure therapy activities like arts and crafts or music appreciation sessions; she found him sleeping for longer periods, his strength and interest fading.  

To improve the quality of life for Mr Lim, the palliative care team strived to establish a positive emotional connection via the four pillars of the Humanitude Care Methodology: gaze, speech, touch and verticality. On one occasion, the team, after helping him sit up and transferring him to a geriatric chair, wheeled him down to the hospital’s community garden and fed him his favourite apple juice and porridge. “I’m glad Mr Lim was finally able to speak with us. We managed to facilitate closure on how he was feeling about coming back to SLH and if he had any unfinished business, of which he said there was none,” disclosed Dr Rachel.  

In the wee hours of an April morning this year, Madam Koh received the news of her husband’s passing. She shared, “When I visited him the night before, nothing seemed amiss. I take comfort in knowing he was resting peacefully when he passed.” Supporting the family in grief and bereavement, Si Jie and Chaplain Esther Goh attended Mr Lim’s wake and continued to help Madam Koh cope with the loss. Taking heed of Si Jie’s advice to partake in activities she likes, Madam Koh attends group quilting classes once a week, cycles in the evenings, and looks forward to going back to work. She added, “I’m still getting used to this change in my life. Thank you, SLH, for caring for my husband and supporting my family through it all.”