Category: Patient Care
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Ambiguity
“You have to go home, you have a blog to write” my breathless patient uttered the words as he awkwardly ended our conversation last night. I was tired, but not nearly as much as he was. Yet he was there, caring about what I still had to do tonight. It had been a long day…
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7 Days of Jim
It was my first day to meet Jim. He walked in and sat down, a well-appearing middle-aged man. I introduced myself and said I was just going to look at his scan and I would be back to discuss what I saw. In the back room, where patients sometimes wonder what we do I examined…
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Do You Read Cancer?
My patient sat across from me and said “You are the expert.” My mind began a long walk on a desert land, nothing as far as the eye could see. I reached a tree and sat down for a little to rest. Then stood up and continued walking. A nomad with a keen eye in…
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Tad
He was very young and it had recurred in his brain. Tad was playing on his computer when I walked into the room. He looked healthy, his eyes bright and beaming with intelligence. I sat across from him in the old cancer center and he asked me question after question. I connected with him instantly…
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Interception
The little interactions with my patients are the highlights of my clinic. They help me in knowing them as people, understanding the pattern of disease globally and managing the side-effects that they could face. More importantly it is getting to know how they view their disease. Many of the therapies that we as oncologists give…