Dying is one of the most difficult subjects for patients and loved ones to talk about. It can also be uncomfortable for healthcare providers who may not be able to evaluate a patient’s willingness to face end-of-life care decisions. In a series of video interviews, I asked patients their thoughts about dying. Adrienne tells […]
A Medical Humanist's Notes
Someday, I May Be Your Patient
Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to offer presentations at academic medical institutions. I’ve been impressed by their commitment to the study and practice of medical science but I noticed a missing component in the education of physicians. That is, there was rarely time allocated for teaching empathy, which could help in gaining insight […]
Who Am I Doing This For?
In the video that accompanies SpeakSooner: A Patient’s Guide to Difficult Conversations, we hear Fritz acknowledge that the rewards of continuing treatment more than exceed the risks but he recognizes there are no guarantees. Living with advanced prostate cancer, Fritz states that he and his wife decide together “to do whatever my physician thought was […]
Does Spirituality Have a Place in Healthcare?
The role of spirituality in facing a health crisis varies from patient to patient. For healthcare providers, who rely on medical science, it can be a contentious subject. We posed the question of spirituality to a group of cancer patients who were interviewed for the Center for Communication in Medicine’s video Voices From the Lived […]
Navigating Hope
The concept of hope can be elusive for those facing a cancer diagnosis. In the Center for Communication in Medicine’s (CCM) video Voices from the Lived World of Illness we hear Adrienne Barnes say, “Hope is different from minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day…” She is telling us what one “hopes for” […]
Holding Them Up
When facing a cancer diagnosis, you quickly learn who shows up and who retreats. The impact of illness on relationships was one of the topics discussed with four cancer patients in the Center for Communication in Medicine’s video “Voices from the Lived World of Illness.” As producers of the video, psychologist Dr. Bernard Bandman and […]
Transcending All Knowledge
As readers of my blog already know, I am drawn to thinking about the space between uncertainty and hope. As we turn the calendar to a new year, I often find myself revisiting Stanzas Concerning an Ecstasy Experienced in High Contemplation by St. John of the Cross, which moves me to think about the mysteries […]
Your Sense of Self Has Changed
“Every day you wake up and your whole sense of self had changed whether you want it to or no. You have to think of yourself as different,” Adrienne Barnes, a patient with pancreatic cancer tells us.” Then, we hear Pete Johnson, who has been diagnosed with lung cancer, say, “There are times, even […]
It Might Be Otherwise
I’ve always been drawn to Jane Kenyon’s poem “Otherwise.” Her words help me to stop and reflect upon what’s happening in the moment. How often do we not pay attention and appreciate the little things in our daily lives? Kenyon wrote, “I got out of bed on two strong legs. It might have been […]
What’s Said and Left Unsaid
In the video Voices From the Lived World of Illness, Adrienne Barnes tells us, “I thought I could go into the doctor’s office and hear what they said and understand it all and go back and report it to my 9,000 family members…but it’s become a really big joke because I am incapable of going […]