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August 1, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n How do you treat someone who knows they\u2019re dying? <\/p>\n It\u2019s a contradiction at the heart of Dr Ross Cruikshank\u2019s work as a palliative care doctor.<\/p>\n His patients are terminally ill \u2013 people with metastatic cancer, organ failure or degenerative disease.<\/p>\n Mortality, a notion most people won\u2019t reckon with until old age, has been drawn close by a life-limiting illness.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually by the time we get involved, they\u2019re at peace with their prognosis,\u201d says Cruikshank, who serves as the director of palliative care at Ipswich Hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know they\u2019re never going to be cured \u2026 and we make sure that they understand they\u2019ve got a life-limiting illness.<\/p>\n \u201cBut to have a palliative care team there in the background, [means] they know that if things go awry, if they get pain, if they get shortness of breath, we\u2019re here to help.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s our job.\u201d<\/p>\n Contrary to the perception that death is imminent, Cruikshank says palliative care is about \u201caffirming life right up to the point of death\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t sort of hove into view like the Grim Reaper as soon as [someone is diagnosed].<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cIt\u2019s not that at all. It\u2019s really almost the opposite of that.\u201d<\/p>\n When the inevitability of terminal illness does arrive, Cruikshank says his job is to help patients die well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s obviously a stressful time when you\u2019ve got a loved one who\u2019s been diagnosed with a terminal illness \u2026 there\u2019s a lot of uncertainty there, and family members in particular can get very anxious or distressed about what\u2019s going to happen to their loved one,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the real honours of being in palliative care is that if you can give someone a good death \u2026 if you can make sure that it\u2019s peaceful, comfortable [and] gentle \u2026 then [the family will] have good memories.\u201d<\/p>\n Cruikshank recounts one of the first patients he treated after starting at Ipswich Hospital.<\/p>\n A woman in her mid-30s had a glioblastoma, a type of brain tumour, and was experiencing frequent seizures.<\/p>\n Knowing she had limited time left with her family, the care team was faced with finding a way to keep her comfortable and the seizures under control, and alert enough to communicate with her loved ones.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took a lot of tweaking, but we did get the medications right in terms of settling down those seizures,\u201d Cruikshank says.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the last 48 hours before she did inevitably slip into unconsciousness, she was able to be awake and alert and converse with family.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember that one and that was really gratifying.\u201d<\/p>\n Peak body Palliative Care Australia say the differences between caring for people dying now, compared with care before advances in medicine, are stark.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople mostly live longer, even with a terminal illness. There are far more options to choose from for treatment, including more effective pain management.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere care is provided, and by who, has changed as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article Treating the terminally ill wasn\u2019t a specialty Cruikshank set out to pursue when at 29 he defected from a career in law and moved from Mackay to Brisbane to study medicine at the University of Queensland.<\/p>\n Influenced by the death of his father from prostate cancer, after passing his physician exams, he enrolled in an oncology program.<\/p>\n A stint as a palliative care registrar at Redcliffe Hospital was intended as a sabbatical of sorts but 20 years on, Cruikshank remains attached to end-of-life care.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can get people that are resistant to palliative care because I guess they\u2019ve got that attitude that \u2018I\u2019m going to fight this every step of the way\u2019, and that perhaps going to palliative care is giving up.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things we really try to dispel. We tell every patient that you can do this on your own terms.<\/p>\n \u201cPalliative care isn\u2019t about giving up. It\u2019s about having another team in your corner that\u2019s going to make the rest of your life one of quality and comfort.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we do is around fixing [symptoms] and providing psychological support while their body decided how much time they have left.\u201d<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e427df86a052b2261bdfcd77470c029cc6fbbc0550ce93deb7f2e0a62c22c5ed.jpeg\")
Dr Ross Cruikshank has worked in palliative care for nearly two decades. Courtney Kruk<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/8f56454cd57d402825452b3270b7fafe4fa69fd1014149f12c42de4a048e392e.jpeg\")
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The idea that palliative care is only for people close to death is a common misconception, Cruikshank says. Courtney Kruk<\/p>\n![\"Helen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7c9766123d00b5989f33d9611baf1170e54ec95400234107601b422d7f16c27f.jpeg\")
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