“The aspects of death and sex are intimately intertwined for both are part of life,” begins a 1968 article in the Journal of Sex Research; “This applies for the normally healthy human being in general, but it has special meaning for the patient with a life threatening disease such as cancer” (Schon 288). Published in…
Tag: palliative care
It Takes a Village to Heal the Doctor: How the Humanities Helped Me Reclaim Idealism in Practicing Medicine
On the phone with a close friend I vented about a homeless patient of mine who had a stigmatizing health history and whose documentation overflowed with pejorative language; scanning through the notes as I prepared for my palliative care consultation, I counted “noncompliant” six times in just one paragraph from one specialist. The term “noncompliant,”…
Structural Pain: How the Humanities Help Reveal the “Hidden Figures” in Total Pain
As a palliative care clinician, I spend many moments throughout the week sitting in silence with patients, absorbing stories of discomfort and overwhelm, resisting platitudes, which I know can cause more harm than good. Remaining quiet requires training and discipline. “I always want to fill the space with words,” said a physician assistant student who…
Light and Shadows: On Care and Loss
Sarah Roth // My mother and I divide up her Hospice bags: two nondescript fanny packs holding morphine, liquids, and nutrition. Artifacts of the land of the critically ill, they are contraband here in the clinic.
From Words to Breath – Connecting Through Poetry
Bríd Phillips // Communicating with a terminally ill friend can often feel daunting and full of fear and anxiety. What will we talk about? Will I say the wrong thing? Or is there actually anything left to say as you both stare into the void? Recently, I had this experience when a work colleague developed…
Laughing at Death – Part 2: When the Dying Tell Jokes
James Belarde “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go.” -Oscar Wilde, shortly before succumbing to illness In Mumbai, India, a kind-looking elderly woman sits on a stool behind a microphone and calmly quips “Life is like that TV journalist Arnab Goswami. Never take it…