Winnipeg man says palliative home care failed his dying partner

Katherine Ellis was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in the fall. In mid-January, she opted for palliative home care, her partner, Eric de Schepper, told Global News.

A Winnipeg man whose partner is dying of cancer is speaking out against the palliative home care he says has failed his loved one in her final days.

Katherine Ellis was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in late fall. In mid-January, she opted for palliative home care to spend her final days surrounded by loved ones, her partner of 10 years Eric de Schepper told Global News on Friday.

“It’s not easy, but what hurts me most right now is that the system is failing her on so many levels,” he said.

Last month, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority promised them home care workers would come by weekly to provide her care and respite for him, de Schepper said. But until he went public with his story, that support didn’t happen, he said.

“That’s dehumanizing. I mean, she was (lying) there for almost four weeks in, on a bed, on the same sheets without me being (able) to switch the sheets, because that’s a two-person job, without me being able to properly wash her.

“All I could is give a sponge bath, was use sanitary wipes.”

The transition from CancerCare Manitoba to home care also didn’t run smoothly, he said. After CancerCare services stopped, de Schepper said he was forced to find another team of health care providers, including an oncologist and social worker.

“Luckily, I had made notes at the hospital, and the doctors are around, so I was aware of her medical regimen. I had asked copies of her charts at the hospital, which allowed me then to puzzle together her regimen at the hospital, which I copied over and applied here.”