Tarrying at The Limit of Time: Rethinking Medicine As A Patient with Lung Cancer

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Need Your Help

                                                  “How can I help when someone I love develops cancer?” This seems to be a simple question, and the answer can be both easy and difficult. A simple answer is the fact that you cannot help if your aim is to cure them. You also may not be helping if your plan is to bring a casserole and then leave as quickly as possible. True, there is no formula that fits everyone, and true, you may not be able to cure your loved one’s illness, but you can do something meaningful. You can be with them, and you can give them care and kindness. This sounds like a cliché, but I am far from wanting to reaffirm an old adage. To be there for someone and to provide kindness and care are easily...
Read more

Meaning: Section 1--Not Finding Meaning

Not Finding the Meaning  At the center of the painting, a man is kneeling next to the lips of a statue of a sphinx. The man is wearing a cloth robe that covers most of his body except the left side of his chest and his left arm. He leans with his ears toward the sphinx, as if listening to it whisper. But the sphinx’s lips are  sealed. The attentiveness in the man’s posture tells that the sphinx was anything but generous with  wisdom. The man is standing on sand that extends, along with old ruins, into the distance. Only the head of the sphinx can be seen; the body is buried in the sand, as are the pillars and ruins. Next to the man is a stick he probably used to help him trudge through the sand so he could question the sphinx. In the right corner are a skull and a rectangular structure that looks like a  tomb. It was December of 2016, two weeks after I was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. I was in Boston, seeking a second opinion from Harvard and wand...
Read more

Just Put It in a Box!

I drew a box on my iPad. Because it did not look like a box, I wrote its name next to it: “Box.” I created the box to open it when I want and close it when I want. This became a conceptual tool, although it is odd to say the box is a tool in my toolbox. This makes it a box in a box. I woke up the next day and decided to use my box. I gently wrapped my sadness and left it at the bottom. Then I locked it. “This morning, I am a doctor! My focus is on taking care of my patients. I will take care of my sadness another time.” But then the first person who saw me asked, “How are you doing? Are you OK?” I was disappointed. My box was not locked enough to keep my feelings from others’ curiosity. Sometimes, we wish no one would ask us how we feel. We make a choice to hide our feelings, lock them in a safe place, and carry on. But people want to know. Some people are nosy. Many truly care. And others just think it’s what they should say. I wish I could tell them...
Read more