Wednesday 8 July 2015

Impact of symptoms on occupation

25 July 2014  
“Struggling like heck today”

14 August 2014 
“Doesn’t take much to wear me out these days”

15 August 2014  
“Very drowsy today. Morphine patches taking pain away.”

30 August 2014 
“Vile day. So so tired”

All of these texts show the impact Paul’s symptoms were having on him and therefore his occupations. He often had something planned for the day but was too fatigued to manage it, so ended up spending more and more time at home. La Cour, Nordell & Josephsson (2009) found that end of life individuals living in the community spent an average of 87% of their time at home. 
Keesing & Rosenwax (2009) tell us that dying people experience disruption, disengagement and deprivation as usual roles and activities are eroded.

“Other occupations start to fall by the wayside as patients become too fatigued to do them – the housework, the garden” (E. Barrett, Te Omanga Hospice, personal communication, 10 June 2015).

2 comments:

  1. Hi Lizzie, it looks like fatigue had a big impact on Paul's occupations. Were there any other symptoms that affected him?

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    1. Thank you for your question Angela. Yes fatigue definitely had a huge impact on Paul's occupations. Another big factor was the pain and swelling in his throat and neck. This had an effect on one of his favourite occupations, eating. He often used to text me to share what he was having for his dinner that night and I noticed how what he was able to eat changed over time. Towards the end of his life he was mostly eating take away food such as curry and fish and chips. He said these were much easier to eat as they were greasy and so slid down his throat easier. He also became quite embarrassed about eating in public as it became more and more difficult and so often chose to take his food home with him to eat in private.

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