When the healthcare system works

Sometimes the healthcare system works—even when the outcome is a tragedy.  I am speaking about the loss of my father, Martin Hicks, to pancreatic cancer.  My father was diagnosed with in April 2025 in his late 60s.  Like many people diagnosed with the illness, by the time it was found, it had already spread to other areas of his body.  This is a terminal diagnosis.  Treatments can be provided but they are to help control symptoms and give people a little more time if they work. 

Needless to say, the diagnosis was devastating.  My father had only retired a few years earlier and we all thought he had decades left to live. He was referred to Princess Margaret Hospital, where he was seen by the pancreatic cancer team.  It took a few weeks to confirm the diagnosis and determine what treatment options there were.  There were not many.  Chemotherapy for stage IV pancreatic cancer is not easy, but it is designed to provide people with symptomatic relief because the symptoms of pancreatic cancer are also awful.  My father chose a treatment protocol and entered into active chemotherapy.  His partner, Ruth, is a healthcare provider who helps to support people experiencing the end of their lives.  She was integral to coordinating everything involved in his care.

He ended up getting radiation therapy for a tumour which had spread to his bones.  He continued the chemotherapy for several months and then made the decision to stop—the side effects were too challenging and the chemo was not as successful at shrinking the tumours as originally hoped.  My father opted for palliative care, where his symptoms were treated to ensure he was as comfortable as possible.  Medication for pain, for nausea, sometimes for his energy levels.  He worsened and died in late November, choosing to complete Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) at home, with his family present to say goodbye.

It may seem strange to say that everything went right when I still lost him, but it is the truth.  As president of the Ontario Medical Association, I am intimately familiar with our healthcare system.  I see when it works and I see the gaps that so many patients experience.  Things worked for my father.  He had an incredible family physician who supported him through his diagnosis, treatment and death.  He had a caring oncology team and palliative care team who coordinated his care.  Despite having one of the worst diagnoses imaginable, he never had to be admitted to hospital in his last 6 months of life and he died on his terms in his own home.  That is extraordinary.  But he had a full care team surrounding him and a partner who understood what was needed to make his last months what he wanted for himself.  Not everyone has that.

I look at what my father experienced, and I wonder about how we can help patients who do not have loved ones working in the field to help them navigate their care.  This is why team based care is so important, where patients can be provided not just medical support, but social supports as well.  When medicine fails to save a life, we can still provide people with as comfortable and meaningful a time that they have left.  I am proud to know I can help be that person for my patients.  And I am grateful that my father had a team of such compassionate healthcare providers.