REFLECTIONS
DOES RELIGION COUNT?
Teresita Bacani-Oropilla, MD
S
he was an accountant by trade. In her
retired years, she volunteered her services to her church and lived a pleasant
uncomplicated life until she slipped and hurt
her back in a fall. Much later, complications
landed her in a hospital. Clear of mind but
feeling like her end was near, she asked for
the greatest comfort her religion could give,
the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion.
Although her sister relayed her request to the staff, they must not
have realized its urgency or importance. She died quietly in her
hospital bed hours later, her wish unfulfilled.
How much does one’s religion count when one is ill, whether
acutely or not, whether one is at home or in a hospital, just plain
ordinary sick or threatened by death? We witness accident and
burn victims, adults rushed in by ambulance for heart attacks,
aneurysms, strokes; children in respiratory distress; and patients
suffering from dreaded cancers in various stages of treatment.
We have heard expectant fathers and grandparents say they were
praying for a mother and the safe delivery of an anticipated child, a
joyful occasion. We have witnessed people’s heads bowed in prayer
in emergency and surgical waiting rooms awaiting results of an
operation or biopsies that will decide their patient’s future. We have
heard of people bargaining for one more month of life to walk a
12
daughter to her wedding altar. Do prayer and religion really play a
role in hopes for recovery, healing, prolonging life, or decisions in
the lives of patients and their loved ones?
The mention of God and religion in the treatment of the sick can
sometimes be tricky and provoke the opening of a Pandora’s Box
of opinions with wide-ranging ramifications. On the other hand,
ignoring the subject as irrelevant can deprive many of the comfort
of the most important aspect of their mortal lives. Like all problems,
the hope is that the sooner these questions are resolved, the better
it will be for the treatment of all patients and the goal of healing.
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
If so, should it be given more importance? Since it cannot be
proven by figures, if insisted upon or emphasized, would it create
havoc with the rules of privacy? Would it create dissensions regarding equality and favoritism? Should religion be a required given
and be part of a patient’s history and protocol of treatment, similar
to age, sex, the use of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, or unprotected
sex, and deserve equal follow-up when needed? If not, should we
just pass it off as of no consequence or as though it does not exist
at all, as it is for some?
Note: Dr. Oropilla is a retired psychiatrist.