I'm a hospice nurse. I so enjoyed listening to this one doctor's journey through this least understood part of her profession to the most understood of my profession. I smile as she rollercoasted her way through observing and being part of death both in and out of her white coat. Medicine doesn't end just because aggressive treatments must, it just changes direction, like the switch on the railroad tracks taking the train off to the left rather than straight ahead. To the oncology patient who just received that news that medicine was at that juncture; "Yes, I know that we have done all we can to fight this disease. Remember the time in my office when I gave you the news of your cancer? We made a plan together of how to fight the disease. Now let's make a plan of how you want the rest of your life to go. I'll lay out some information, medications, and ideas and you.........."
I'm a hospice nurse. I so enjoyed listening to this one doctor's journey through this least understood part of her profession to the most understood of my profession. I smile as she rollercoasted her way through observing and being part of death both in and out of her white coat. Medicine doesn't end just because aggressive treatments must, it just changes direction, like the switch on the railroad tracks taking the train off to the left rather than straight ahead. To the oncology patient who just received that news that medicine was at that juncture; "Yes, I know that we have done all we can to fight this disease. Remember the time in my office when I gave you the news of your cancer? We made a plan together of how to fight the disease. Now let's make a plan of how you want the rest of your life to go. I'll lay out some information, medications, and ideas and you.........."