A troubling sight

My round at the palliative ward began with a sad story of a 42 year old teacher with bilateral breast cancer.

She was admitted to the ward in January this year but her condition is detiorating..

When we saw her, she was so thin, her hair was falling off, her right arm totally swollen and though conscious, she wasnt alert nor responsive. She was gasping for air, while lying at 45degrees.

The nurses were cleaning her wound. They had been doing that because when she came in, her breast was filled with maggots and was foul smelling. They had removed all the maggots and kept the wound clean, but the ulcer was huge! Both her breast was totally distorted and disfigured that it doesnt look like a breast anymore, more like 2 rocks with very rough surface with black discolourations giving it a patchy appearance. both nipples couldn't be located. Her right breast which was filled with maggots had a cauliflower like growth protuding from it with the deep ulcer eating into her flesh.

The doctor taking care of her didn't even give her 1month to live...
Why the pathetic state?

She was in denial... When she discovered a lump last time, she refused treatment. But she went for traditional therapy. When she came in January, she defaulted chemo after 1 round. And so this was her state...

All of us were traumatized by the sight... more so with the thought that it ws preventable... My only prayer is that she would learn to accept her fate and not die a terrible death in denial.