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Cancer of the Cervix - Chaplaincy
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Contents
Chaplaincy for professionals
Whereas the medical professional seeks to cure and to alleviate pain, the chaplain/pastoral carer seeks to bring peace, acceptance, truth and realistic hope, allowing the innermost part of the patient to attain a balance with the external manifestations of illness. In other words, if the inner spiritual harmony and balance is in place, what life then offers in the form of treatments through doctors, nurses and other health professionals can be accepted and integrated peacefully. This in turn may well be greatly conducive to better and more immediate healing, or alternatively, a more peaceful process of life's ending. Cancer of the Cervix for Chaplains
In relation to gynaecological cancer matters, all chaplains would need to draw on their attending and listening skills in helping unfold the woman's underlying story, as this is a sensitive and delicate issue for her to reveal. Her role as nurturer, family carer, worker, household manager and even her wifely role are all on hold. Women of different ages may grieve for different reasons. For a younger woman, grief may be about the loss of the capability to bear children; for an older woman that she can have no more children; for a middle-aged woman that the physical aspects of her person are either inactive or even removed - all of these issues might be huge parts of the grief she may not yet feel in her frozen state. The woman can refuse to address her own grief in the concern she shows towards her partner and their relationship and to her family. This is all part of the great grief she has. The chaplain/pastoral carer needs to allow time and sensitive, empathic listening for these deep feelings to surface before fears and options can be addressed. A further issue for the chaplain/pastoral career is to be aware of the partner's issues and the family concerns. The partner needs to verbalise grief, anxiety, stress, feelings of helplessness, and to be allowed to be part of the partner's pain, otherwise it may result in emotional detachment and failure to face the problems. The same unhurried care needs to be extended to the family - the whole family: mother, father, children and the extended family, all need to be listened to as they define their new roles, becoming comfortable in them as far as they are able. The pastoral carer needs to be aware and help others to an awareness of the many grief issues that are part of the concerns of the patient. Books by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross detail many grief issues; Abraham Maslow's work discusses the issues that concern people when their life structures seem to topple around them; Erik Erikson discusses life's stages and the concerns of a person in each of them; and William Worden details the tasks of grief. Details for these and other materials can be found in the 'further information' section below. If the whole team is aware of the specific approach used for the individual needs of a patient then a greater cohesion and ease can develop in the team. Rita Steptoe, June Loxton
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