Case Study: Brain Cancer Hospitalization and Patient Management

This case study examines the hospitalization of a patient, Wendy Xu, diagnosed with stage 3 brain cancer. It delves into her medical history, including pre-existing conditions like T2DM, HTN, and coronary artery disease, and the symptoms that led to her admission. The study emphasizes the importance of nurses in establishing the patient's condition for accurate diagnosis and the impact of brain cancer on brain functionality. It explores the roles of policymakers, oncologists, neurologists, and family caregivers in providing comprehensive care, including discussions on medication, physical therapy, and managing behavioral changes. The case study further addresses post-discharge care, focusing on educating family members about medication, routine, and potential behavioral changes. It highlights the importance of caregiver support and the challenges of managing a patient's condition as the disease progresses, including considerations around end-of-life decisions, particularly in the context of a stage 4 diagnosis and the associated challenges such as financial constraints and the need for open communication about end-of-life care.

Running head: BRAIN CANCER HOSPITALIZATION: 1
Brain Cancer Hospitalization
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliate
Date

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Question 1 part A
As been provided for in Case Study A, Wendy Xu, who was born on January 7, 1945,
and lives in 11 Borrow Street, Carrum Downs 3201 patient number 00283642. She admitted on
date 27/05/2019 for the diagnosis of increased confusion, pain, and unstable BSL secondary to
Brain Cancer. This decision was arrived at following the previous medical history of Oral
Hypoglycemic and Litmus (T2DM), HTN, Hypocholesterolemia, ex-smoker, coronary artery
disease – sent to LAD, Brain Ca (stage 3) and depression. Brain cancer is a disease of the brain
where the malignant cells grow in the brain tissues (Rugbjerg, & Olsen, 2016). This leads to a
formation of cancer tissues that interrupts the functionality of the brain cells such as the
sensation, memory, muscle control, and the cells that are majorly composed of the noncancerous
cells. The nurses need this information to establish Wendy's condition during admission so that
the diagnosis of the patient can be made in the right way with a lot of perfection.
The impacts of hospitalizing of the brain cancer patients should be to detect the level or
the stage to which the cancer cells have spread in the brain cells. This will help to induce the
right treatment, care, and precautions to be taken against a brain cancer patient. When cancer of
the brain is detected at grade three, where the malignant tissues have cells that look very
different from healthy cells (Nakajima-Yamaguchi et al. 2016). The abnormal cells are actively
growing and have a distinctly unusual appearance. At this stage, the tumor cells have dominated
over the healthy brain cells, and they grow relatively at a faster rate. The decisions to treat or
prevent other cavities at this stage from spreading in the brain cells
Question 1 Part B
To transform the provision of health services geared towards Wendy Xu's health system
requires actions by the policymakers, management, oncologists, and neurologists. The

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professionals on cancer treatment and recovery. Besides, the parents, family members, and very
close relatives who can play the role of caretaking should come together and share on the basic
knowledge concerning Wendy. Since currently she has been diagnosed for brain cancer grade
three. The cancer experts will talk on issues like the meals daily for Wendy, the kind of support
she needs, how to do the medication, physical therapy to be administered to Wendy. More
importantly, how to handle her when she becomes too unresponsive to drugs and experience
extreme behavior changes.
Most of the cancer patients are stands a better chance to have family members that
provide excellent care and mental support to their patient. According to Wendy Xu, who is 53
years of age requires a very concerned caregiver who in most occasions, will be with her. That's
why she is relocated to stay with her daughter, who is considered to have a woman and motherly
instincts for a grade three brain cancer patient. That can otherwise not be provided by the
husband (Graef et al.2018). Family caregivers are said to be secondary patents to the victims.
Their primary focus is to provide the needed information and care to the oncologists and
neurologists who are in charge of the patient treatment. The nurses should thus be very keen on
selecting the right persons in the family based on their maturity, love, and concern to the patient.
Question 2
After discharge, the patient's condition should be maintained at an optimal level. The
nurses thus provide the necessary caregiving education to the family members on whose care the
patient will be (Ay, Pabinger, & Cohen, 2017). Medical history that is composed of the dosage,
routine, and discipline forms part of the education given to the patient. The fact remains that
caregiver should mostly interact with the patients providing them with a broader range of

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activities (Fiveash, 2018). A third-grade patient, as seen from their reactions, requires tenderness
and worminess' as the behavior of the patients might, to some extent, go beyond the comfort of
social expectation. The caregiver should then be at a position to withstand the behavior changes
from the patients. Examples of the behavior that the caregiver should expect and prepare on how
to handle are; rejection to drugs, loss of appetite, loss of hope in life, depression, weakness,
hallucination, seizures, difficulty in walking, excessive vomiting, and change in personal
alertness, mental capacity, memory, speech or personality.
To come up with an excellent decisive discharge decision and recommendation, the
oncologists should interview and civilize the caregivers, and the patients on the most critical
issues will last for five years. The primary and secondary patients should be made aware of the
next state stage to the patient is Grade IV. At this stage, the malignant tissue has cells that look
most abnormal and tend to increase. At this stage, the fate of the patient is not well defined
(Chen, Liew, & Kwan, 2016). The days of the patients are numbered, and thus, special attention
should be granted to the patient, and the caregiver's expectation should be moderated and
prepared for anything. Sometimes, the low family income might expose the caregivers to high
risk since some of the expenses that at the patients need to require money to solve. The drugs
may be expensive, and the families might not be able to afford the total care for the patients for
all the times.
Talking of euthanasia, (husband, daughter, and her nurse) should sit and discuss the
decision together with Wendy. Typically the brain cancer at stage three still has more days to
live with relatively appropriate behavior that can be handled and managed. Thus, the decision
arrived at should be taken keenly and soberly considering every factor of Wendy's recovery
period if possible, the available family resources, religion, and culture of the family concerned.

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