I had a patient before, a 7 y/o girl diagnosed with leg muscle cancer.

Lisa (not her real name) was

brought to our hospital due to a post-op wound on the leg part that was not healing despite several
courses of antibiotics. The admitting diagnosis was lymphadenopathy. When the doctor ordered for
simple chest x-ray because the child has cough, official result of the x-ray showed signs of metastasis to
the lungs.

We were all surprised even the doctors. After several diagnostic procedures, it turned out that the child
already had cancer. Soon thereafter , Lisa was discharged. But a few months later, she was back at the
hospital and this time her condition seems to have worsened. She’s paler, thinner. It was hard to
recognize that the once vibrant child was now very weak. But despite all of this she remind cheerful.

PRESENCE:

One day when we were staying at her bedside , preparing her medication, she told me and my co-nurse
“Nurse, mommy told me that I’ll see Jesus very soon”. I looked at my co-nurse and Lisa’s mother. This
the day we dreaded. We have already talked with the mother the previous days and she already
informed us that Lisa is very much aware of her condition. But despite knowing this, we still did know
how to respond to such straight forward declaration. Trying to recover from the shock, I held her hand,
sat on the chair beside her bed and asked her, “What does your mom told you?” There she said her
mama told about her condition. I LISTENED. I ALLOWED HER TO EXPRESS HER FEELINGS. My co-nurse
even asked her how she felt about her meeting Jesus. Lisa just smiled. I knew she was trying to be brave.
I understood then that even in her own little way she has come to accept her fate.

RELAXING:

In our institution, we have a policy that children below 12 years old are not allowed to visit the ward to
avoid transmitting any disease to the child who is visiting.

In Lisa’s case, she had a little sister who is a year younger than her. We allowed her to PLAY with her
sister during the times Lisa was admitted. In fact, we encouraged the parents to bring crayons and
coloring book to help Lisa live as normal as she could and help DISTRACT her from whatever feelings she
have with regards to her condition. Some of my co-nurses even bought coloring books for them to do as
their boding activity.

But there were days when Lisa was really feeing tired. During those times we advised the parents to
allow Lisa to rest and sleep so as to conserve her energy and recharge.

PRAYER:

Every Friday, a Pastor from the church, where Lisa’s parents belong to always visited the family
and provided healing prayers for Lisa and the whole family.

ANALYSIS
Abaquin’s concepts to PREPARE a cancer patient to improve his quality of life may seem simple and
common. There is nothing wrong with simple and common, as long as the end result of it will be
improvement in patient’s quality of life.

Her theory is universal, applicable to any race, gender or type of cancer. Application of her theory is
especially evident in the clinical settings of Pediatric Wards in the Philippines. The only modification in
the framework is when patient’s AGE comes into play. PARENTS are at the forefront of the
PREPARATION process.

The role of parents is not optional but necessary. Amongst Filipinos, family set-ups are most of the time
close-kinit. A child, especially a sick child will only heed to their parents advice and embrace. They look
to their parents for approval, guidance and understanding of their health condition. It is therefore very
important for the nurse to forge a good working relationship with the parents in order to help the child.
Parents by nature will be very accommodating especially if the actions and interventions suggested to
them by the nurse will be for the comfort of their child. No parent would want to see their child suffer
more from the pain caused by cancer. It is therefore necessary to place the parent- nurse relationship at
the core of the PREPARE me theory for the pediatric cancer nursing.