This site is dedicated to the memory of Shane Dixon
I had the privilege to join with Shane's wife Lissa and his "team" of friends in caring for Shane during the last months, weeks, days and hours of his life. Shane was a shining example of someone who both fought his disease to the end, yet could also face the potential terminal outcome with grace and courage. He said that the cancer could not defeat him, it could only take his flesh. His spirit shone on in his smile to the end. This courage and peace of mind enabled him to both create quality of life for himself and also to share joy, strength and encouragement with all those who came in contact with him.
How does this relate to Palliative Care? Palliative Care is the care of those with incurable and eventually terminal illness, which focuses treatment on the whole patient, their family, their friends and their social situations. It does not just treat disease, though treating the disease may be part of it. It is a multidisciplinary field, which involves physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains, and should also encompass the best and most healing of alternative therapies. It is patient centered, not disease centered.
Palliative Care is a new field in America. Often death is viewed as "optional" and therefore hard to do well. Shane lived his last months with grace and courage and died well. It was his wish to try and support this approach to care, which had helped him during his most critical times. Since his death, his friends have continued to work to raise money to promote Palliative Care at UCLA.
During his illness, Shane, by his example, taught everyone around him - nurses and physicians as well as family and friends. We need to spread this education so that medicine in America is the best not just at reaching for the cure, but also at caring for the incurable. The aim of this Palliative Care Website is to further this education, by making available a guide to the growing literature in this field.
We are grateful to Shane, Lissa and all their friends for their support of this work.
--Dr. Judith M. Ford
Professor, UCLA School of Medicine
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