Mr. O. told his story with a trembling voice of how his wife battled breast cancer, and in her final days the pain was unbearable. On some nights, he said, she would clutch her chest, crying out in agony, screaming over and over—"my nipple, my nipple, the pain!"
He stood beside her, helpless and the only thing he could do was to cry with her. And together, they wept, night after night, until her suffering came to an end, and she slipped away.
These are the silent agonies endured by families who face illness without the comfort and support of palliative care—raw pain, helplessness, and heartbreak that could have been eased if palliative care had reached them.
