Heartbreaking Yet Heartwarming Moments from Our Fourth Hospice Care MDT

When Life Faces Farewell Too Soon – Heartbreaking Yet Heartwarming Moments from Our Fourth Hospice Care MDT

Recently, the Department of Geriatrics of Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital organized its fourth multidisciplinary hospice care (MDT) meeting of the year. Unlike previous sessions, the atmosphere in the conference room was particularly somber, because the two cases before us were children: Doudou (pseudonym), age 4, and Jingjing (pseudonym), age 16.

In the field of hospice care, we are accustomed to accompanying elderly, white‑haired individuals through the final chapter of their lives – a natural conclusion to the human journey. But when faced with these two children, who should have been running freely in the sunshine and chasing their dreams on school campuses, every expert in the room felt an indescribable pain and sorrow. The clock of life had been cruelly fast‑forwarded for them, making the word "guardianship" feel particularly heavy and precious.

Regarding the conditions of these two young patients, experts from the Departments of Neurology, Pain Medicine, Rehabilitation, the Neurology Medical Center, Nutrition, and the nursing team, together with volunteers from Jiarong Group, engaged in an exceptionally meticulous and compassionate discussion. For Doudou (pseudonym), our focus was no longer merely on drug dosages, but on how to minimize the fear caused by treatment, how to fill the empty hospital room with toys and picture books, and how to help her feel more love and security in her parents' arms. For Jingjing (pseudonym), age 16, in addition to precise control of her physical symptoms, we were even more concerned about her inner longing for the future and her current sense of loss. We explored how, through psychological counseling and the involvement of social workers, we could help her fulfill her unfinished wishes and preserve her dignity as an independent individual.

Dr. Trudeau’s famous words – “To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always” – took on an even more profound meaning at this moment. In the face of lives ending too soon, medicine may not be able to create miracles to reverse the outcome, but we can still create warmth. The purpose of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) is to bring together the strength of all specialties to build a gentle line of defense for these children – to block the ravages of disease and preserve the light of humanity. Through professional symptom management and comprehensive humanistic care, we hope that in their final days, these two young lives will experience less pain and more peace, surrounded by love and warmth, and that more people and more organizations will join the hospice care team.

Their time to bloom may be short, but every life deserves to be treated with gentleness. The Department of Geriatrics and the Hospice Care Center of Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital will continue to uphold their original mission, relying on professional medical skills and deep humanistic compassion to provide the strongest support for these broken‑winged angels and their families, accompanying them through this difficult yet love‑filled journey.

Since the establishment of the Hospice Care Quality Control Center, our hospital's Department of Geriatrics has continuously advanced hospice care services from an "experience‑based" approach toward "standardization and scientific practice." In the future, we will continue to deepen the multidisciplinary collaboration mechanism, enhance the team’s professional service capabilities, and use the warmth and depth of medicine to light a comforting lamp for more end‑stage patients and their families, faithfully guarding the last kilometer of their lives.

Department Introduction

Department of Geriatrics, Gansu Wuwei Cancer Hospital

• March 2023: Designated as a "Municipal Center of the Cardiomyopathy Specialty Alliance" by the National Cardiovascular Center.
• Established the "Gansu Provincial Close Specialty Alliance for Pulmonary Circulation and Right Heart Disease" and the "Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Geriatric Medicine Medical Consortium" with Gansu Provincial Hospital.
• 2024: Awarded "Geriatric Nutrition Demonstration Ward" by the Gansu Provincial Health Commission; appointed as a "Fabry Disease High‑Risk Patient Collaboration Unit" by the China Red Cross Foundation.
• 2025: Became the "Lead Hospital for the Hypertension达标 Center."
• 2026: Designated as the "Wuwei City Hospice Care Quality Control Center" by the Wuwei Municipal Health Commission – currently one of the main public hospital hospice care centers in the city.

Staffing: 1 Associate Chief Physician, 4 Attending Physicians, 1 Rehabilitation Therapist, and 6 Nursing Staff.

Specialties covered: Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Nephrology, Endocrinology, and Medical Oncology – providing comprehensive, multidisciplinary, "one‑stop" treatment for geriatric multimorbidity (e.g., coronary heart disease, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes), as well as management of geriatric syndromes and common age‑related issues such as sleep disorders, dizziness, constipation, frequent urination, and poor appetite. Based on each elderly patient's specific condition, the department performs comprehensive assessments including nutritional risk screening, comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), and frailty evaluation. The department also offers acupuncture, cupping, and physical therapy.

The Department of Geriatrics focuses not only on improving the quality of life of elderly patients but also on respecting their autonomy. It implements professional chronic disease management, avoids duplicate medications and redundant tests, and provides high‑quality geriatric nursing services, making elderly patients feel as comfortable and warm as at home.

Geriatrics Department Locations:

• Outpatient: Central Campus – Room 325; Heavy Ion Campus – Clinic 206A5
• Inpatient: Heavy Ion Campus, Building 9, First Floor

Writer: Zhu Xuetong

First Reviewer: Yang Yang

Second Reviewer: Guo Yishan

Third Reviewer: Cai Qinghua

Wuwei Cancer Hospital of Gansu Province (Wuwei Institute of Medical Sciences)

（甘）医广【2025】第11-14-387号