Category: Patient Care

Do Not Touch

Posted on by momilhem

Observe. Let’s say this is the decision I have to communicate to my patient. I analyze the data in front of me and come to the conclusion that the best therapy is to do nothing. To leave this patient alone and watch their disease rather than interfere. Easier said than done.  I believe this is one of the hardest decisions I have to make sometimes, because we as a society have become used to the idea of doing something. Doing nothing is just not acceptable. Why is that? Pressure from guidelines and treatment algorithms, difficulty in teaching my students who are learning the concept of observation, and exceptionally hard to explain to the patient and the caregivers.

There is an itch to treat. I compare it to an itch because it is hard to ignore.  I feel it.  It builds up inside us telling us to do something. We just can’t stand there and watch. Even when the odds are low, or the statistics are not favorable. That irresistible feeling to do something comes roaring from the inside. Where does it come from? Why do we listen to it? I ask these difficult questions because sometimes I think I should just shake my head and say no, leave it alone Mo. I think your best option is to watch. Allow the disease to declare itself, and show you what you need to do. “I am a good salesman, about to sell you a crappy car” I find myself quoting quite a lot to patients as I navigate this decision. I don’t want my patients to feel abandoned or dismissed.

I have evolved in the way I treat my patients today. When I was younger I was eager to get a treatment plan in place for a patient. I believed that it was important to have that ready to help patients fight their disease. Over time I have also seen my decision-making change. I am more observant, waiting for the right moment to intervene with a therapy. I always  hope I make the best decisions for my patients. It involves engaging the patient, the family and their goals. Slowing down and trying to let the decision be made for me by observing has proven very valuable.

To truly help you as a patient, I want to be in your shoes. So let’s reverse the roles, I am now you. Faced with a difficult disease, being bombarded with knowledge that overwhelms and intimidates.  Yes I can be that person since I am vulnerable to this disease and its effects. I self-reflect to what I hold sacred as I ask the deepest parts of me. I value my quality of life, my sense of well-being, and my vitality to those around me. I do not want to interrupt my life, I do not want to be sick or out of sorts; What would change my mind to accept a treatment, cure?  If that cannot happen, then why subject me to this treatment? What’s the goal? Doctor can you please answer me? What can you possibly offer me that may make a difference to me? Why is it necessary to put me through this? Why do I have to suffer?

Important questions that I ask as the patient and should be asked as a doctor. Can you be me for a change?  In the eyes of this doctor I seek understandings in why I have to present a treatment that may not be helpful to my patients. Perhaps the best treatment is “do not touch”……..reminiscent of the oath I took of “do no harm”.

Mo

 

 

 

Impact

Posted on by momilhem

Brace yourself. Get ready. I am about to deliver news about the status of your cancer and whether you responded to the treatment I persuaded you to try. Wait for me, I know you are anxious. Understand that I bring you the truth. Good or bad it is disbelieving. And what I say cannot change.

When looking at the statistics associated with cancer it is more likely for me to be delivering news that my patients do not want to hear but have to. I have also shared moments of triumph and victory with many patients. The impact of this news regardless of what it is, is the truth of the situation. Say it the way it is and help the patient understand. It is my experience which has proven so very valuable. Understanding mishaps and bad decisions in medicine has been a cornerstone in improving my level of the care that I provide to each patient. This is what I teach the next generation of doctors.

What impact does seeing and telling the truth about cancer have on me? Is is the seed of my understanding that grows into a tree. It offers me a chance to improve on what I have already learned and challenge myself to do better each time. I am more than me; I am an institution I teach so many that “art” of medicine. I store all the nuances that occurred that helped shape the decision I made. I draw on so many instances where I could not find a right answer, where I saw a positive outcome in others that helped me make a better decision for each individual. “Practice makes perfect” was the old idiom.

I thank my patients for making me a better physician for the next person I have to serve. We are partners in this reality and it is the truth that nourishes our growth.

Mo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compass

Posted on by momilhem

I am always asked “what if?”  When my patients are seeking the pessimistic alternative to the situation at hand. I have also heard of patients being given ultimatums with a deadline on their time to life. I love it when they break those barriers and surpass the times “allocated”. I have not handled these questions or these situations well. I touch upon my need to provide the right answer when I am asked “what if that happens to me?” and “when will it happen to me?” My tendency is to avoid it, try not to answer it and tonight I wonder why I do that.

Our predictive power as oncologists is very limited. In 2013 I am faced with an enormous speed at which we are discovering newer more innovative therapies to help patients. I find it hard to counsel patients in the future when there is hope for cures and longevity. This is very new for me, exciting and frightening all at once.

How does it feel for my patient? Anxiety is one of the most difficult emotions to navigate. Failing to provide them with the answers they seek creates a conflict that is not readily resolved. Science needs to help us understand outcomes of how disease may manifest in an individual and how it acts. A lot of our therapies are geared towards attacking the cancer head on. Newer approaches are taking into account how we might be able to isolate different individuals based on the behavior of their bodies and discovering better predictors for response to a therapy. I would like to tell my patient “I’m recommending this therapy because you are the one who will benefit from it.” We are clearly not there, and a lot of work needs to be done to help us be better at guiding patients down the best path for the treatment of their disease.

Like a compass leading in a general direction without pointing to a specific street or alley, when asked “Well what if that does not work for me what then?” I simply say – we’ll take it day by day and cross that bridge when and if we get there.

Mo

Befuddled

Posted on by momilhem

Cancer is a crippling disease. It frustrates us. It spares no one when it presents itself to us. For those watching and those it involves. Minds struggle with it. Others find it fascinating. It can teach you everything from finding the will to fight, to understanding the human struggle with death, to elucidating all the facts about how our cells behave. I am wrestling with this frustration today, because I could not explain what was happening to my patient. It was like entering the twilight zone.

I sat opposite her staring in disbelief. A puzzle. Baffled. How could this be? I thought. It was not bad news. It was not good news. It was news that did not make logical sense. I took refuge in the words of those who taught me “treat the patient not the numbers”. There she was sitting looking absolutely great. The treatment she was getting was working for her. But her blood work spoke something different. Impossible; now I know what that word means. How could that be? I kept asking. I left the room walked to my computer, and started asking others what they thought. The more minds I could harness the better the decision I made felt. This is where the proverb of “too many cooks spoil the broth” failed. Here is where I needed as many cooks as I could find. This is how our collective, collaborative consciousness comes together to help me understand what I had not been taught yet.

Some have asked how we do it. “We” the ones who are watching this process. It’s 9:52 pm tonight and look at what has captured my mind. What has me thinking, contemplating and wondering. It’s this curiosity that cannot be destroyed. It makes me walk in places no one dares to. It gives me a depth of understanding that helps me see more about human beings and life than I could possibly explain. I try and I am stumped. So I sit and watch the sun set unable to explain how, knowing in time that someone someday will say “well the earth is just revolving around itself” and that is how the sun sets.

Mo

 

Stretch.

Posted on by momilhem

I walked into the room and I could see that the surgeon who had seen my patient before me had already relayed the bad news. The cancer was back. The weight of this news still not complete in her mind. How could it be? She had been cancer free for so long. She had battled it once, and now she is being asked to do that again. On seeing me and my somber expression, she burst into tears. The weight of the situation finally reaching her and she gave in to her emotions.

This cannot be happening. I thanked the surgeon for meticulously working out the plan for me as the patient relayed to me what she was to do. I could be a little lost in this struggle with the patient for a change. Sometimes depending on my day and where I am at I let myself be sucked in. It was that kind of day where I was just as disappointed at the appearance of the cancer that I identified with this person, where I was struggling with many things in side of me and I just could not say much to her.  

I reached out to my patient as her tears flowed before me. I told her not to worry, that we would walk beside her on this journey today. Step by step. That it was our responsibility to see her through this to let us worry for her as I tried to help ease her suffering. The easiest thing to do was give her a pain pill, and that brought her around to a better place. I have often marveled at the little things that calm us when we are stressed. The soft touch of a hand, the forgiveness from a friend or the comforting words of a caring loved one.

And she replied “I know you will Mo.”

With the faith she had in me, and the passion in her eyes to live, we began our battle.

Mo