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Petre
Maria
David
Cosmin
Katia
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Ilie's Story
Ilie is 53 years old and has a diagnosis of renal carcinoma with widespread bone and pulmonary metastases.
He came to the urology specialists in September 2006 with haematuria (blood in the urine) and was treated for kidney stones for 3 months. The blood in his urine persisted and in January 2007 he underwent a number of investigations and was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma. He had his right kidney removed, with a particularly traumatic post-operative period, despite a high suspicion of bone metastases, which were subsequently confirmed by CT scan in April 2007. He was then referred to the oncologists who recommended radiotherapy for the vertebral metastases which he tolerated well. He was first visited by the hospice homecare team in November 2007 having been referred by one of the local oncologists for symptom control.
Ilie lives with his second wife and one of her three daughters in Sin Petru, a small village on the outskirts of Brasov. He has little contact with his ex-wife and 2 children. He was a cook in the army and then a waiter in a local restaurant for over 20 years, but since his diagnosis has retired on health grounds. He receives a pension of only 200 RON, equivalent to 40 GBP a month.
He was recently admitted to Hospice Casa Sperantei inpatient unit in Brasov with severe bone pain particularly in his right hip resulting in reduced mobility, associated with loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. He understood his diagnosis but struggled to accept the prognosis and had unrealistic expectations. His physical symptoms proved relatively easy to control by Hospice staff with adjustments to his treatment regime, but he and his family needed a lot of counselling and emotional support to come to terms with the fact that he was not getting better and in fact his general condition was deteriorating significantly. He went home after a 2 week stay and continues to be visited by the homecare team and receives both medical and psycho-social care.
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