Tuesday, July 10, 2007

what an awefully terrible feeling it must be for a person to suddenly discover that their life is about to end in a matter of months rather than years. there is this very likable NESB (non-English speaking background) gentleman, under our care at the moment. he came in with back pain which turned out to be bony metastasis from bowel cancer. poor man doesn't complain at all, only confesses to severe back pain when questioned and is hesitant about asking for pain-killers.

we asked the palliative care doctors to see him and he told me today that the lady doctor(palliative care consultant) explained things to him in a way that made things more clearer and her way of speaking made him "happy". the palliative care consultants are an unique species of specialtiest. time and time again, they've surprised me with their patience. many times i've seem them displaying great satisfaction when they were able to help their patients achieve a painless and comfortable death. Although palliative care is not on my list of possible future career-paths, someday, I'd like to be a consultant that my patients find comfort and trust in.

I was able to talk to him for a precious few minutes today. as he reached for his tissue, i tried hard to hold back my tears. eventually having to end the conversation cos it was getting just too emotional for me and i needed to find a tissue to blow my nose.

i'm so glad these days, my short patient-list means I can actually spend time with my patients.

posted by zhinger @ 8:14 pm

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